: 


THE  DESTRUGTION  OF 
ANCIENT  ROME 


LANCJANl 


V1665., 
BY     PURCHASE. 


DISCARD 

TOWN  LIBRARY 
LANCASTER,  MASS. 


/.B.CLARKE 


f&antj  books  of 
&rd)3cologtj  ano  Antiquities 


THE   DESTRUCTION 


OF 


ANCIENT    ROME 


o 

I— I 

§ 


P 


.5  S  ° 

all 
1 1  ?- 


-n 

D 

•a 

-z 
S 

3 

J/; 

ICHEN 

H 

S 
O 

M 

'fci 

o 
• 

a 

,  purchas 

ci 

-3 

a 
> 

to 

P=5 

pq 
o 

o 

« 

be 

s 

g 

3 
O 

^ 

t-^ 

fcr 

t— 

V 

i/. 

"r. 

£3 

Tl 

s 

'H 

S  3"  j?  a 

.S^^S 

§•--1  B 
B|  1-8 
IB-SI 

5  i-a-S 
^  SS  I 


.J>  ?& 


J 


f-;   oo 


•Co^S     fi   o   S..5O 
'  '  •§  "=  •§  '  S  's  s  ffi  a  •  'S  2  '  .3  '  o  «  .3 

plii1lli35igjAitj.fi]  ^2 
Itllllfiilliilllliliilii 


O  W)-; 


•  :..? 


£ 


i 


?<-     ,-V 


':, 


'  =    • -/'<>' 
-.     «4l 

-- 

<i^ — --*-— 
> .— i, •-f'1 

NM|i 

,;^>;,  >^n 

^M 

/•^ 

\A  V>  V>   */i 

&,  d  K 


i 


H 


/.  THE    DESTRUCTION 


OF 


ANCIENT    HOME 


A  SKETCH   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   THE 
MONUMENTS 


BY 


RODOLFO    LANCIANI 

D.C.L.  OXFORD,  LL.D.  HARVARD 

PROFESSOR  OF  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  IN  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF   ROME 


Wefo  ff  otfc 
THE  MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 

1899 

All  rightu  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1899 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


NortoooB 

J.  S.  Cushing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith 
Norwood  Mass. 


THE  GETTY  RESEARCH 
INSTITUTE  LIB.V.RY 


PREFATORY   NOTE 

PROFESSOR  RODOLFO  LANCIANI  needs  no  introduction 
to  English  readers. 

This  book  sums  up  briefly  the  results  of  researches, 
extending  over  many  years,  in  regard  to  the  fate  of  the 
buildings  and  masterpieces  of  art  in  ancient  Rome.  In 
his  work  upon  this  subject  and  upon  his  large  map 
Professor  Lanciani  has  searched  hundreds  of  volumes  of 
municipal  and  ecclesiastical  records,  besides  examining 
several  thousand  separate  documents  ;  and  he  has  ran- 
sacked the  principal  libraries  of  Europe  for  prints  and 
drawings  showing  the  remains  of  ancient  Rome  at  differ- 
ent periods.  Much  of  the  new  material  thus  collected 
will  appear  in  fuller  form  in  an  extensive  work,  compris- 
ing several  volumes,  which  will  be  published  in  Italian 
under  the  title  Storia  degli  Scavi  di  Roma.  The  present 
volume  is  a  forerunner  of  the  larger  work. 

Thanks  are  due  to  Professor  Walter  Dennison  of  Ober- 
lin  College,  for  kind  assistance  in  reading  the  proofs,  and 
for  the  compilation  of  the  Indexes. 

F.  W.  K. 

NOVEMBER  1,  1899. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     THE  DESTROYERS  OF  ANCIENT  ROME   .....  3 

II.     THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  REPUBLICAN  ROME  BY  THE  EM- 
PERORS     ..........  10 

III.  THE  USE  OF  EARLIER  MATERIALS,  PARTICULARLY  MARBLES, 

IN  THE  BUILDING  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LATER  EMPIRE   .  28 

IV.  THE    ASPECT   OF   THE    CITY   AT    THE   BEGINNING   OF   THE 

FIFTH  CENTURY 47 

V.    THE  SACK  OF  THE  GOTHS  IN  410,  AND  ITS  CONSEQUENCES  .  66 

VI.     THE  SACK  OF  ROME  BY  THE  VANDALS  IN  455    ...  74 

VII.     THE  CITY  IN  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY 77 

VIII.     BURIAL  PLACES  WITHIN  AND  WITHOUT  THE  WALLS     .        .  89 

IX.    THE  DEVASTATION  AND  DESERTION  OF  THE  CABIPAGNA       .  101 

X.     THE  MONUMENTS  IN  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY       .        .        .  106 

XL     THE  INCURSION  OF  THE  SARACENS  IN  846,  AND  THE  EXTEN- 
SION OF  THE  FORTIFICATIONS  OF  THE  CITY      .         .         .  126 

XII.     THE  FLOOD  OF  856 139 

XIII.  THE  ROME  OF  THE  EINSIEDLEN  ITINERARY          .         .        .  142 

XIV.  THE  USURPERS  OF  THE  HOLY  SEE  AND  THE  SACK  OF  1084  154 

XV.     ROME    AT   THE    END    OF   THE    TWELFTH    CENTURY  —  THE 

ITINERARY  OF  BENEDICT 174 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVI.     MARBLE-CUTTERS  AND  LIME-BURNERS  OF  MEDIAEVAL  AND 

RENAISSANCE  ROME 180 

XVII.     THE  BEGINNINGS  or  THE  MODERN  CITY    ....     198 

XVIII.     THE   SACKING  OF  ROME  BY  THE  ARMY  OF   CHARLES   OF 

BOURBON  IN  1527 214 

XIX.     THE   MONUMENTS   IN   THE    LATTER   PART    OF    THE    SIX- 
TEENTH CENTURY  ........     227 

XX.     THE   MODERNISATION   OF   MEDIAEVAL  BUILDINGS  IN  THE 

SEVENTEENTH  AND  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURIES         .         .     253 

XXI.     MODERN  USE  OF  ANCIENT  MATERIALS       ....     258 

INDEXES : 

I.     INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 267 

II.     INDEX  OF  PASSAGES  AND  INSCRIPTIONS  ,     278 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


Panoramic  view  of  Rome  by  Balthasar  Jenichen       .        .       Frontispiece 

FIGURE  PAGE 

1.  Substructions  of  the  palace  of  Septimius  Severus.      From  a 

photograph 2 

2.  Torre  dei  Schiavi.     From  a  photograph 6 

3.  Section  of  steps  of  the  round  temple  of  the  Forum  Boarium, 

showing  earlier  and  later  construction          .        .        .        .11 

4.  Fragment  of  painted  terra  cotta  antefix  from  the  temple  of 

Jupiter  Optimus  Maximus.    From  Tav.  xiii.  of  the  Bullettino 
Comunale,  1896 12 

5.  Fragment  of  painted  tile  from  an  early  temple  on  the  Esqui- 

line.     From  Tav.  xiii.  of  the  Bullettino  Comunale,  1896     .       13 

6.  Section  of  excavations  in  the  Via  di  S.  Gregorio,  showing 

changes  of  level    .........       19 

7.  Fragment  of  the  tomb  of  Celer.     From  a  photograph        .        .       21 

8.  Excavation  of  the  Via  Nazionale  on  the  Quirinal,  showing  re- 

mains of  buildings  of  different  periods.     From  a  photograph      25 

9.  Part  of  the  upper  story  of  the  Coliseum,  repaired  with  mate- 

rials from  earlier  buildings.     From  a  photograph         .        .       29 

10.  Another  view  of  the  upper  story  of  the  Coliseum,  showing 

repairs  made  with  architectural  fragments  from  various 
sources.     From  a  photograph 30 

11.  A  statue,  broken  into  fragments,  in  process  of  reconstruction. 

From  a  photograph 44 

12.  The  monument  of  Stilicho  in  the  Forum.     From  a  photograph  51 

13.  The  raising  of  level  at  the  Porta  Ostiensis,  A.I>.  402  ...  54 

14.  Bronze  heads  found  in  1880  under  the  English  Church,  Via  del 

Babuino.     After  Tav.  i.  of  the  Bullettino  Comunale,  1881  .      67 

15.  Section  of  the  channel  of  the  Aqua  Marcia,  at  Monte  Arcese, 

showing  deposits  on  the  bottom  and  sides    ....      81 

16.  The  remains  of  the  Claudian  aqueduct  at  the  Porta  Furba. 

From  a  photograph       ........      86 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


17.  Tomb  of  P.  Vibius  Marianus,  so-called  "Tomb  of  Nero,"  on 

the  Via  Clodia,  4£  miles  north  of  Rome.     From  a  print      .       93 

18.  Columbarium  on  the  Via  Severiana,  near  Ostia,  opened  in 

1868.     From  a  print 94 

19.  The  Sepolcro  degli  Stucchi,  showing  the  hole  made  by  plun- 

derers in  the  vaulted  ceiling.     From  a  print         ...       97 

20.  View  of  the  Campagna,  remains  of  the  Claudian  aqueduct  in 

the  distance.     From  a  photograph        .         .         .        .        .100 

21.  The  column  of  Phocas  in  the  Forum.     From  a  photograph       .     107 

22.  The  Pronaos  of  the  Pantheon.     From  a  photograph  .        .         .     113 

23.  The  tomb  of  St.  Paul  and  the  canopy  of  Arnolfo  di  Lapo  in  S. 

Paolo  fuori  le  Mura,  after  the  fire  of  1823.     From  a  print  .     132 

24.  Tower  of  the  wall  of  Leo  IV.,  now  used  as  an  observatory. 

From  a  photograph 134 

25.  The  Forum  flooded  by  the  Tiber,  1898.    From  a  photograph    .     140 

26.  The  Ponte  Salario,  two  miles  north  of  Rome ;  blown  up  to 

prevent  the  advance  of  Garibaldi  in  1867.     From  a  photo- 
graph   ...........     149 

27.  View  of  the  Caelian  hill,  looking  southeast.    From  a  photograph    163 

28.  View  of  the  Forum  in  1821,  partly  excavated,  showing  the 

difference  between  the  ancient  and  the  modern  level.     From 

an  engraving         .........     167 

29.  The  obelisk  of  the  gardens  of  Sallust  as  it  lay  after  it  had 

fallen.     From  a  sketch  by  Fontana 171 

30.  The  lower  end  of  the  obelisk  of  the  Campus  Martius.     From  a 

sketch  by  Bandini 172 

31.  A  typical  Roman  house  of  the  twelfth  century,  built  with  odd 

fragments.     From  a  photograph  .        .         .         .        .        .179 

32.  The  pulpit  in  the  cathedral  of  S.  Matte"o  at  Salerno,  built  with 

marbles  from  Rome.     From  a  photograph  .        .         .        .185 

33.  Fragments  of  cornice  from  the  temple  of  Vulcan  at  Ostia. 

From  a  photograph       ........     195 

34.  House  and  tower  of  the  Margani.     From  a  photograph     .        .     200 

35.  A  lane  of  Mediaeval  Rome  —  Via  della  Lungarina,  demolished 

in  1877.     From  a  photograph 202 

36.  The  Porta  del  Popolo  of  the  time  of  Sixtus  IV.     From  a  sketch 

by  M.  Heemskerk  (1536) 209 

37.  Reliefs  from  the  tomb  of  Calpurnianus,  the  charioteer.     From 

a  photograph 210 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xi 

FIG  FEE  PACK 

38.  The  hill  of  S.  Onofrio,  where  Charles  of  Bourbon  established 

his  headquarters.     From  a  photograph         .         .         .        .215 

39.  One  of  the  Sale  Borgia  —  that  of  the  "Vita  della  Madonna" 

—  in  the  Vatican.     From  a  photograph        ....     223 

40.  Bae-reliefs  from  the  arch  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  now  in  the  Con- 

servatori  Palace.    From  a  photograph          ....     229 

41.  The  statues  of  Castor  and  Pollux  on  the  Capitoline  hill,  restored 

in  1584.     From  a  photograph       ......     233 

42.  View  of  the  Lateran  buildings  before  their  destruction  by 

Sixtus  V.     From  a  sketch  by  Ciampini        ....     243 

43.  The  Loggia  of    Pietro    Squarcialupi,   Palazzo    del    Senatore. 

From  an  old  print 248 

44.  The  Ponte  Rotto,  half  carried  away  by  the  inundation  of  1557. 

From  a  photograph       ........     249 

45.  The  Cesi  chapel  in  the  church  of  S.  Maria  della  Pace,  built 

with  Pentelic  marble  from  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Optimus 
Maximus.     From  a  photograph 260 


SELECT   BIBLIOGRAPHY 

HISTORICAL  AND  TOPOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

Adiuolfi.  Pasquale  :    Roma  nell'  eta  di  mezzo.     2  vols.    Rome,  1881. 
Armellini,  Mariano :   Le  chiese  di  Roma  dal  Secolo  IV.  al  XIX. 

2d  edit.,  Rome,  1891. 
Corpus  Inscriptionum  Latiuarum :  Vols.  VI.,  1876  sq.,  and  XIV., 

1887. 
De  Rossi,  Giovanni  Battista :  Inscriptiones  Christianae  Urbis  Romae 

saeculo  septimo  antiquiores.      Rome,   Vol.   I.,  1861 ;    Vol.   II., 

pars  1,  1888. 

Roma  Sotterranea  Cristiana.     Vol.  I.,  1864. 

Roma  Sotterranea ;  or,  Some  Account  of  the  Roman  Catacombs. 

Translated  by  J.  S.  Northcote  and  W.  R.  Bro\vnlow.     London, 

1869.     New  ed.,  1879. 
Duchesne.    Louis :   Le  Liber  Pontificalis  —  Texte,   introduction   et 

commentaire  par  1'abbe  L.  Duchesne.     2  vols.     Paris,  1886-1892. 
Dyer,  Thomas  H. :  A  History  of  the  City  of  Rome,  its  Structures 

and  Monuments.     London,  1865. 
Gibbon,  Edward :  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman 

Empire. 
Gilbert,  O. :  Geschichte  und  Topographie  der  Stadt  Rom  im  Alter- 

thum.     Leipzig,  3  parts,  1883, 1885,  1890. 
Gregorovius,  Ferdinand :  Geschichte  der  Stadt  Rom  im  Mittelalter. 

8  vols.,  4th  ed.     Stuttgart,  1886-1896. 

History  of  the  City  of  Rome  in  the  Middle  Ages.     Translated 

from  the  Fourth  German  edition  by  Annie  Hamilton.    Vols  I.- VI. 
London,  1894-1899. 

Grisar,  Hartman,  S.  L. :  Geschichte  Roms  und  der  Papste  im  Mit- 
telalter.    Freiburg,  Vol.  I.,  1898. 


xiv  SELECT  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Helbig,  "Wolfgang :  Guide  to  the  Public  Collections  of  Classical 
Antiquities  in  Rome.  Translation  by  J.  F.  and  F.  Muirhead. 
2  vols.  Leipzig,  1895-1896. 

Jaff  fe.  Phil. :  Regesta  Pontificum  romanorum  ab  condita  ecclesia  ad 
ami.  1198.  2d  ed.,  revised  by  Kaltenbrunner,  etc.  2  vols.  Leip- 
zig, 1885-1888. 

Jordan,  H. :  Topographic  der  Stadt  Rom  im  Alterthum.  Berlin, 
Vol.  I.,  part  i.,  1878,  part  ii.,  1885;  Vol.  II.,  1871. 

Kraus,  Franz  Xavier  :  Geschichte  der  christlicheu  Kunst.  Vol.  I. 
Freiburg,  1896. 

Lanciani.  Rodolfo  :  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome.     Boston,  1893. 
-  Ancient  Rome  in  the  Light  of  Recent  Discoveries.     Boston,  1888. 

The  Ruins  and  Excavations  of  Ancient  Rome.     Boston,  1897. 

L'  Itinerario  di  Einsiedlen  e  1'  ordine  di  Benedetto  Canonico. 

Rome,  1891. 

I  Commentarii  di  Frontino  intorno  le  acque  e  gli  acquedotti. 

Rome,  1880. 

—  Forma  Urbis  Romae.     Milan,  1893  sq.     (XLVI  sheets.) 
Marangoni,  Giovanni :  Delle  cose  gentilesche  e  profane,  trasportate 

ad  uso  ed  ornamento  delle  chiese.     Rome,  1744. 
Mommsen.   Theodore :    Monumenta    Germaniae    historica  :    Gesta 

pontificum  Romanorum.     Vol.  I.     Berlin,  1898. 
Miintz.  Engine  :  Les  Arts  a  la  cour  des  Papes.     3  vols.     (To  Sixtus 

IV.)     Paris,  1878-1882. 
—  Les  Arts  a  la  cour  des  Papes.    (Innocent  VIIL-Pius  III.)    Paris, 

1898. 

Muratori,  Ludovico :  Rerum  Italicarum  Scriptores. 
Nichols,  F.  M. :  The  Marvels  of  Rome ;  or,  A  Picture  of  the  Golden 

City.    An  English  version  of  the  Mediaeval  Guidebook.    London, 

1889. 

Richter,  Otto  :  Topographic  der  Stadt  Rom.     Noerdlingen,  1889. 
Tommasini,  Oreste  :  Delia  storia  medievale  della  Citta  di  Roma  e  dei 

piu  recent!  raccontatori  di  essa :  in  Archivio  della  Societk  Romana 

di  Storia  Patria,  Vol.  I.,  1877. 
Urlichs,  C.  L. :  Codex  urbis  Romae  topographicus.    Wurzburg,  1871. 


SELECT  BIBLIOGRAPHY  XV 


PERIODICALS 

Archivio  della  Societk  Romana  di  Storia  Patria.     Rome,  from  1877. 
Bullettino  della  Commissione  archeologica  comunale  di  Roma,  from 

1873. 
Bullettino  di  Archeologia  cristiana,  edited  by  Giovanui  Battista  de 

Rossi,  Vols.  I.-XIII.     Rome,  1863-1895. 
Nuovo  Bullettino  di  Archeologia  cristiana,  edited  by  G.  B.  de  Rossi, 

E.  Stevenson,  O.  Marucchi.     Rome,  from  1895. 
Mittheilungen  des  Kaiserlich  Deutschen  Archaeologischen  Instituts, 

Roemiscbe  Abtheilung;   from  1886,  following  the  Annali  and 

Bullettino,  1829-1885. 
La  Civiltk  Cattolica.     Interesting  contributions  by  H.  Grisar.     See 

also  Grisar's  Analecta  Romana,  Vol.  I.     Naples,  1899. 
Melanges  de  Pficole  francaise  de  Rome.     Rome,  from  1881.    Interest- 
ing contributions  by  L.  Duchesne. 
Notizie  degli  Scavi  di  Antichita.     Rome,  from  1876. 
Roemische  Quartalschrift  fiir  Christliche  Altertumskunde.      Rome, 

from  1887. 
Studii  e  Documenti  di  Storia  e  Diritto.     Rome,  from  1880. 


FIG.  1.  —  Substructions  of  the  palace  of  Septimius  Severus. 


DESTRUCTION   OF   ANCIENT   ROME 

CHAPTER  I 
THE  DESTROYERS  OF  AXCIENT  ROME 

I  WAS  sitting  not  long  ago  at  the  southern  extremity  of 
the  Palatine  hill,  where  the  remains  of  the  palace  of  Sep- 
timius  Severus  tower  a  hundred  and  sixty  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  modern  streets,  and  I  was  trying  to  fathom 
the  abyss  which  lay  open  at  my  feet,  and  to  reconstruct  in 
imagination  the  former  aspect  of  the  place.  By  meas- 
urements on  the  spot,  compared  with  descriptions  and 
drawings  left  by  those  who  saw  the  Palatine  in  a  better 
state  of  preservation,  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain  that  a 
palace  490  feet  long,  390  wide,  and  160  high  has  so  com- 
pletely disappeared  that  only  a  few  pieces  of  crumbling 
wall  are  left  here  and  there  against  the  cliff  to  tell  the 
tale.  Who  broke  up  and  removed,  bit  by  bit,  that 
mountain  of  masonry  ?  Who  overthrew  the  giant  ? 
Was  it  age,  the  elements,  the  hand  of  barbarians,  or  some 
other  irresistible  force  the  action  of  which  has  escaped 
observation  ? 

3 


4  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

To  answer  these  questions  we  must  first  try  to  grasp  the 
meaning  of  the  words  "destruction"  and  "disappearance" 
when  applied  to  the  monuments  of  ancient  Rome.  We 
are  told,  for  instance,  that  485,000  spectators  could  find 
room  in  the  Circus  Maximus,  and  that,  when  Trajan  gave 
up  to  the  people  his  own  imperial  balcony,  the  available 
space  was  increased  by  5000  seats.  Perhaps  there  is  an 
exaggeration  in  these  figures ;  in  fact,  the  capacity  of  the 
Circus  has  been  limited  by  Huelsen  to  150,000  specta- 
tors.1 But  even  with  this  reduction,  we  may  suppose  that 
here  150,000  persons  sat  on  stone  or  marble  benches 
which  were  made  accessible  by  an  elaborate  system  of 
stairways;  if  we  allow  to  each  spectator  an  average 
space  of  twenty  inches,  there  must  have  been  in  the 
Circus  Maximus  more  than  250,000  running  feet  of 
stone  and  marble  benches.  Not  a  fragment  has  come 
down  to  us,  and  we  are  left  in  complete  ignorance  as  to 
the  way  in  which  so  great  a  mass  of  solid  material  has 
disappeared. 

Near  the  Pantheon  of  Agrippa,  on  the  border  of  the 
pond  or  stagnum  where  Nero  and  Tigellinus  used  to 
feast  in  a  floating  hall,  there  was  a  colonnade  known  by 
the  name  of  Eventus  Bonus.  Its  site  was  unknown  to 
topographers  until  May,  1891,  when  a  capital  of  great 
size  was  discovered  in  the  Vicolo  del  Melone,  near  the 
church  of  S.  Andrea  della  Valle  :  so  great,  indeed,  was 
that  mass  of  marble  that  we  were  obliged  to  abandon  it 

1  Bullettino  Comunale,  1894,  p.  322. 


THE  DESTROYERS  OF  ANCIENT  ROME         5 

where  it  lay,  on  account  of  the  danger  of  undermining 
the  neighbouring  houses  if  we  should  attempt  to  remove 
it.  Whence  came  the  great  block  ?  I  found  a  clew  to 
the  answer  in  Flaminio  Vacca's  account  of  the  excava- 
tions in  the  time  of  Pius  IV.  (1559-1566).  "In  laying 
the  foundations  of  the  Palazzo  della  Valle,"  says  Vacca, 
"columns,  fragments  of  entablatures,  and  other  marbles 
were  found,  among  them  a  capital  of  enormous  size,  out 
of  which  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  Pope  on  the  Porta  Pia 
was  chiselled."1  A  second  capital  was  discovered  under 
the  Ugolini  house,  in  the  Vicolo  del  Melone,  in  1862; 
and  a  third,  under  the  Palazzo  Capranica  della  Valle  in 
1876.  These  three  capitals  and  the  one  found  in  1891 
were  lying  on  a  line  measuring  300  feet  between  the 
two  outermost ;  they  all  belonged  to  a  colonnade,  the 
columns  of  which  were  47  feet  high,  the  capitals  them- 
selves being  6  feet  high  and  14  feet  in  circumference. 
The  significance  of  these  dimensions  will  best  be  appreci- 
ated by  architects. 

Ancient  documents  further  mention  a  stadium  (where 
now  is  the  Piazza  Navona)  with  seats  for  30,088  spec- 
tators, an  odeum  (now  the  Monte  Giordano)  with  11,600 
seats,  the  theatre  of  Balbus  (now  the  Monte  de'  Cenci) 
with  11,510  seats,  and  the  theatre  of  Pompey  (near  the 

1  Memorie  di  varie  antichita  trovate  in  [diversi  luoghi  .  .  .  scritte  da 
Flaminio  Vacca  nel  1594,  in  Tea's  Miscellanea,  Vol.  I.  p.  25.  Latest 
and  best  edition  by  Richter  in  Berichte  der  Sachs.  Gesellschaft  der 
Wissenchaften,  1881,  p.  43. 


6  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

Campo  di  Fiori)  with  17,580  seats.     Of  all  these  marble 
and  stone  buildings,  no  traces  are  left  above  ground. 

Examples  of  this  kind  are  by  no  means  confined  to 
the  area  within  the  city  walls.  In  the  Life  of  the 
Emperor  Gordianus  the  younger,  chap.  32,  a  description 


FIG.  2.  — Torre  del  Schiavi. 

is  given  of  his  villa  on  the  Via  Praenestina,  two  and  a 
half  miles  outside  the  gate  of  that  name.  It  contained, 
among  other  buildings,  a  colonnade  of  two  hundred 
columns,  fifty  of  which  were  of  cipollino  or  Carystian 
marble,  fifty  of  portasanta,  fifty  of  pavonazzetto  or 


THE  DESTROYERS  OF  ANCIENT  ROME        7 

Phrygian  marble,  and  fifty  of  giallo  antico  or  Numidian ; 
there  were  also  three  basilicas,  each  a  hundred  feet  long, 
an  imperial  palace,  and  baths  which,  in  size  and  magnifi- 
cence, rivalled  the  thermae  of  Rome  itself.  The  present 
state  of  this  Villa  Gordianorum  is  shown  in  our  illustra- 
tion (Fig.  2).  Colonnade,  basilicas,  palace,  baths,  —  all 
have  disappeared.  One  bit  of  ruin  stands  alone  in  the 
wilderness,  a  landmark  for  miles  around,  —  the  Torre 
dei  Schiavi,  a  favourite  meet  of  the  foxhounds  in  the 
Campagna. 

We  may  grant  that  natural  agencies  have  contributed 
their  share  to  the  demolition  of  ancient  buildings,  —  fires, 
floods,  earthquakes,  and  the  slow  but  resistless  processes 
of  disintegration  due  to  rain,  frost,  and  variations  of  tem- 
perature ;  but  such  prodigious  changes,  such  wholesale 
destruction,  could  have  been  accomplished  only  by  the 
hand  of  man. 

Writers  on  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire 
have  proposed  several  explanations,  all  of  which  are 
plausible ;  all  contain  elements  of  truth.  But  at  the 
outset  we  may  discard  the  current  view  that  the  dis- 
appearance of  Roman  monuments  was  due  to  the  bar- 
barians —  as  if  these,  in  their  meteoric  inroads,  could 
have  amused  themselves  by  pulverizing  the  250,000  feet 
of  stone  and  marble  seats  in  the  Circus,  for  example, 
or  the  massive  structure  of  the  villa  of  the  Gordiani ! 
The  purpose  of  the  barbarians  was  to  carry  off  such 
articles  of  value  as  could  easily  be  removed,  and  Rome 


8  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT   ROME 

long  remained  rich  enough  to  satisfy  their  greed.  Later, 
when  this  mine  had  become  exhausted,  and  the  houses 
of  the  living  were  stripped  of  all  their  valuables,  they 
may  have  attacked  the  abodes  of  the  dead,  the  humble 
catacombs  of  the  faithful  as  well  as  the  imperial 
mausoleums ;  but  the  stanch  buildings  of  the  Republic 
and  of  the  Empire  were  not  essentially  damaged. 

As  we  shall  see  in  the  course  of  our  narrative,  in  June, 
455  A.D.,  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Optimus  Maximus  on 
the  Capitoline  hill  and  the  palace  of  the  Caesars  could 
still  be  successfully  plundered  of  movable  objects.  In 
536  the  garrison  of  the  mole  of  Hadrian,  which  had 
long  ago  been  converted  into  a  fortress  (now  the  Castle 
of  S.  Angelo),  was  able  to  check  an  assault  of  the 
Goths  by  throwing  down  upon  their  heads  the  master- 
pieces of  Greek  art  which  still  adorned  the  mausoleum. 
A  quarter  of  a  century  later  the  historian  Procopius 
states  that  many  statues  by  Phidias  and  Lysippus  could 
yet  be  seen  in  Rome. 

In  630  Pope  Honorius  I.,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Emperor  Heraclius,  removed  the  gilt-bronze  tiles  from 
the  roof  of  the  temple  of  Venus  and  Rome,  for  the 
adornment  of  the  roof  of  St.  Peter's  ;  the  temple,  there- 
fore, was  still  intact.  In  663,  when  Rome  for  the  last 
time,  and  to  her  misfortune,  was  visited  by  an  emperor, 
—  a  Christian  emperor  too,  —  a  great  deal  was  still  left 
to  plunder.  In  the  brief  period  of  twelve  days  which 
Constans  spent  in  the  city  he  removed  many  bronze 


THE   DESTROYERS  OF  ANCIENT  ROME  9 

statues,  and  laid  his  hands  also  upon  the  bronze  tiles 
of  the  Pantheon,  although  this  had  long  since  been 
converted  into  a  Christian  church. 

The  barbarians,  therefore,  can  be  left  in  peace,  their 
part  in  the  destruction  of  Rome  being  hardly  worth  con- 
sidering when  compared  with  the  guilt  of  others.  By 
"  others  "  I  mean  the  Romans  themselves,  of  the  Imperial, 
Byzantine,  Mediaeval,  and  Renaissance  periods. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE   TRANSFORMATION  OF   REPUBLICAN   ROME   BY 
THE   EMPERORS 

THE  growth  of  a  city  involves  the  readjustment  of 
its  edifices,  public  and  private,  to  the  needs  of  a  popu- 
lation living  under  new  conditions ;  and  in  a  certain 
sense  we  may  say  that  the  history  of  the  destruction 
of  Rome  begins  with  the  reign  of  Augustus,  who 
undertook  to  transform  the  capital  of  the  Empire  from 
a  city  of  bricks  into  a  city  of  marble.  In  widening 
and  draining  the  old  streets,  in  opening  new  thorough- 
fares, in  building  the  new  quarters,  and  in  carrying 
out  a  general  scheme  for  the  sanitation  and  embellish- 
ment of  the  metropolis,  many  historical  monuments 
were  sacrificed.  To  clear  the  space  for  the  erection  of 
the  theatre  of  Marcellus,  for  example,  the  shrine  of 
Pietas  was  destroyed,  so  dear  to  the  Romans  on  account 
of  the  legend  of  the  faithful  daughter  who,  with  the 
milk  of  her  breast,  kept  alive  the  father  sentenced  to 
death  by  starvation  in  the  old  Decem viral  jail.1  Dion 
Cassius  adds  that  many  houses  and  temples  were  de- 
molished to  make  room  for  this  structure  ;  that  many 

i  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  VII.  36,  121. 
10 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  REPUBLICAN   ROME 


11 


statues  of  the  gods,  of  ancient  workmanship,  carved  in 
wood  and  stone,  shared  the  fate  of  the  temples ;  and 
that  the  builders  of  the  theatre  were  suspected  of 
having  appropriated  the  gold  and  valuables  stored 
away  in  the  vaults  (favissae')  of  the  sacred  edifices.1 
The  example  set  by  Augustus  was  followed  by  his 
wealthy  friends,  Marcius  Philippus,  Lucius  Cornificius, 
Cornelius  Balbus,  and  Statilius  Taurus ;  but  Agrippa 


iwuuuuwi 


FIG.  .'?.  —  Section  of  steps  of  the  round  temple  of  the  Forum  Boarium,  showing 
earlier  and  later  construction. 


surpassed  them  all  in  the  number  and  splendour  of 
his  buildings.2  We  may  compare  the  work  of  these 
men  with  that  of  the  popes  and  cardinals  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  who  modernised  our  Constantin- 
ian  and  mediaeval  churches ;  but  there  is  this  differ- 


1  Dion  Cassius,  XLIII.  49. 


2  Suetonius,  Octav.  29. 


12 


DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 


ence,  that  while  the  renovation  of  the  seventeenth 
century  was  without  excuse  and  had  no  redeeming 
feature,  Augustus  and  his  friends  did,  at  least,  substi- 
tute masterpieces  of  Greco-Roman  construction,  of  the 
purest  type,  for  the  earlier  structures  of  brick  or 
rough  stone. 

This  change  may  best  be  studied,  perhaps,  in  the 
so-called  temple  of  the  Mater  Matuta  in  the  Forum 
Boarium,  afterwards  the  church  of  S.  Stefano  delle 

Carozze,  now  S.  Maria 
del  Sole,  in  the  Piazza 
Bocca  della  Verita. 
Here  we  see  the  stone 
steps  leading  to  the 
stone  cella  of  the  time  of 
Camillus,  covered,  but 
not  entirely  concealed, 
by  the  marble  steps 
and  the  marble  cella  of 
the  time  of  Augustus 
(Fig.  3).  In  excavat- 
ing strata  of  rubbish  of 
the  time  of  Augustus, 

such  as  the  platform  of 
FIG.  4.  —  Fragment  of  painted  terra  cotta 

antefix  from  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Optimus     the    Gardens   of   MaCCC- 

Maximus.  »    ,       -, 

nas,  or  that  of  the  Capi- 

tolium,  we  have  actually  picked  up  fragments  from 
temples  of  the  time  of  the  Kings,  dumped  there  with 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  REPUBLICAN  ROME 


13 


other  materials  to  raise  the  level  of  the  ground.  Such 
are  the  antefixes  of  painted  terra  cotta  from  the  temple 
of  Jupiter  Optimus  Maxitnus,  now  in  the  Palazzo 
de'  Conservator!,1  and  the 
roof-tiles  from  another  shrine 
on  the  Esquiline,  in  the 
Museo  Municipale  al  Celio.2 
In  the  early  centuries  of 
Rome  sacred  edifices  were 
built  of  wood,  and  orna- 
mented with  panels,  cornices, 
and  tiles  of  terra  cotta  with 
polychrome  decoration.  A 
structure  of  this  kind  was 
discovered  on  the  site  of 
Falerii,  Civita  Castellana,  in 

1886 ;  the  remains  of  it  are  exhibited  in  one  of  the 
halls  of  the  Villa  di  Giulio  III.,  outside  the  Porta  del 
Popolo.3 

In  tracing  the  history  of  the  destruction  of  the  Rome 
of  the  Kings  and  of  the  Republic  at  the  hands  of  the 
Emperors,  three  facts  become  prominent :  (1)  the  com- 
plete covering  over,  for  hygienic  reasons,  and  conse- 

1  Bull.  Com.,  1896,  p.  187,  PI.  xii.-xiii.  (see  Fig.  4). 

2  Ibid.,  1896,  p.  28  (see  Fig.  5). 

8  Monumenti  antichi  publicati  per  cura  della  reale  Accad.  dei  Lined, 
Vol.  IV.,  1895. 


FIG.  5.  —  Fragment  of  painted  tile 
from  an  early  temple  on  the  Esqui- 
line. 


14  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  EOME 

quent  elevation,  of  large  tracts  of  land ;  (2)  the  re- 
building, on  a  totally  different  plan,  of  one  or  more  quar- 
ters of  the  City,  after  a  destructive  fire ;  and  (3)  the 
clearing  of  large  areas  to  make  room  for  the  great 
thermae,  —  those  of  Nero,  Titus,  Trajan,  Caracalla, 
the  Decii,  Diocletian,  and  Constantine. 

The  first  record  that  we  have  of  the  covering  over 
and  elevation  of  a  large  area  for  hygienic  reasons  dates 
from  the  time  of  Augustus.  A  part  of  the  Esquiline 
hill  was  occupied  at  that  time  by  a  "  field  of  death," 
where  the  bodies  of  slaves  and  beggars  and  of  crimi- 
nals who  had  undergone  capital  punishment  were 
thrown  into  common  pits  (puticuU*),  together  with  the 
carcasses  of  domestic  animals  and  beasts  of  burden. 
In  the  excavations  made  in  laying  out  the  Via  Napo- 
leone  III.,  in  1887,  about  seventy-five  of  these  pits 
were  discovered.  In  some  of  them  the  animal  remains 
had  been  reduced  to  a  uniform  mass  of  black,  unctuous 
matter ;  in  others  the  bones  so  far  retained  their  shape 
that  they  could  be  identified.  The  field  of  death 
served  also  as  a  dumping  place  for  the  daily  refuse  of 
the  city.1  This  hotbed  of  infection  was  suppressed  by 
Augustus  at  the  suggestion  of  his  prime  minister 
Maecenas.  The  district  was  buried  under  fresh  earth 
to  the  depth  of  24  feet,  and  a  public  park,  a  fifth  of 
a  mile  in  extent,  was  laid  out  on  the  newly  made 
ground.  The  results  proved  of  so  great  benefit  to  the 

1  Ancient  Rome  in  the  Light  of  Recent  Discoveries,  p.  64. 


TRANSFORMATION   OF  REPUBLICAN  ROME  15 

health  of  the  City  that  Horace  thought  the  work 
worthy  to  be  sung  in  verse.  In  the  quaint,  though 
by  no  means  literal,  translation  of  Francis  (Sat.  I.  vm. 

8  et  seq.)  :  — 

In  coffins  vile  the  herd  of  slaves 

Were  hither  brought  to  crowd  their  graves; 

And  once  in  this  detested  ground 

A  common  tomb  the  vulgar  found; 

Buffoons  and  spendthrifts,  vile  and  base, 

Together  rotted  here  in  peace. 

A  thousand  feet  the  front  extends, 

Three  hundred  deep  in  rear  it  bends, 

And  yonder  column  plainly  shows 

No  more  unto  its  heirs  it  goes. 

But  now  we  breathe  a  purer  air, 

And  walk  the  sunny  terrace  fair, 

Where  once  the  ground  with  bones  was  white, — 

With  human  bones,  a  ghastly  sight! 

In  process  of  time  recourse  was  had  to  the  same  expe- 
dient in  the  case  of  other  cemeteries  within  or  near  the 
walls  of  Aurelian.  The  twenty-four  million  cubic  feet 
of  earth  and  rock,  removed  by  Trajan  from  the  west 
slope  of  the  Quirinal  to  make  room  for  his  Forum,  were 
spread  over  the  cemetery  between  the  Via  Salaria  Vetus 
(Pinciana)  and  the  Via  Salaria  Nova.1  The  Licinian 
Gardens  —  a  portion  of  the  great  imperial  park  on  the 
Esquiline,  formerly  owned  by  the  Licinian  family  - 
were  laid  out,  likewise,  on  the  site  of  the  cemetery 

1  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome,  p.  284. 


16  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

between  the  Via  Collatina  and  Via  Labicana.  The 
same  fate  befell  the  beautiful  burial-grounds  of  the 
Via  Aurelia,  now  occupied  by  the  Villa  Corsini-Pamfili, 
near  the  Casino  dei  Quattro  Venti.1  No  injury  was 
done  to  the  tombs  when  the  earth  was  heaped  upon 
them  ;  their  sacred  character  protected  them  from  sacri- 
lege, and  the  cinerary  urns,  the  inscriptions,  and  the 
more  or  less  valuable  furniture  of  the  sepulchres  were 
left  undisturbed.  The  excavation  of  these  cemeteries 
in  modern  times  has  proved  to  be  exceptionally  rich  in 
finds. 

The  vast  conflagrations  which  from  time  to  time  swept 
over  the  city  were  in  reality  a  means  of  improvement, 
both  from  the  aesthetic  and  from  the  hygienic  point  of 
view.  Such  was  the  fire  described  by  Livy  in  the 
twenty-seventh  chapter  of  Book  XXVI.,  by  which  all 
the  shops  and  houses  around  the  Forum,  the  residence 
of  the  high  priest,  the  fish-market,  and  the  buildings  in 
the  region  of  the  Lautumiae  were  destroyed.  The 
district  was  rebuilt  on  a  better  and  more  sanitary  plan. 
This  historian  describes  another  fire  (XXIV.  47),  by 
which  the  region  of  the  Forum  Boarium,  from  the 
foot  of  the  Aventine  to  the  present  Piazza  Montanara, 
was  devastated  in  213  B.C.  ;  and  again  in  192  B.C.  the 
same  quarter  was  burned  over.  I  saw  traces  of  the 
fires  last  mentioned  in  April,  1886,  when  the  main 

1  Pagan  and  Christian  Some,  p.  269. 


TRANSFORMATION  OF   REPUBLICAN   ROME  17 

sewer  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber  was  built  at  a 
great  depth  across  the  piazza  Bocca  della  Verita.  There 
were  remains  of  early  Republican  structures  nine  feet 
below  the  level  of  the  piazza,  and  upon  them  was  a 
bed  of  ashes  and  charred  materials.  The  buildings  of 
a  later  period,  above  the  bed  of  ashes,  had  a  different 
orientation. 

When  the  Emperor  Nero  conceived  the  idea  of  re- 
newing and  rebuilding  the  capital  of  the  Empire,  the 
streets  were  crowded  with  shrines,  altars,  and  small 
temples  which  religious  superstition  made  inviolable ; 
his  plans  of  improvement  were  opposed  by  the  priests 
and  by  private  owners  of  property,  and  any  attempt 
to  carry  them  out  was  clearly  destined  to  lead  to  end- 
less lawsuits,  appraisals,  and  disputes  among  the  ex- 
perts. So  he  seems  to  have  solved  the  difficulty  by 
having  the  city  set  on  fire,  in  the  year  64  A.D.  Nero 
was  at  Antium  when  the  conflagration  began,  on  June 
18,  the  anniversary  of  the  burning  of  Rome  by  the  Gauls 
in  390  B.C.  The  fire  started  at  the  east  end  of  the 
Circus  Maximus,  at  the  place  now  called  La  Moletta  ; 
it  spread  in  a  northeasterly  direction  and  swept  over 
three  out  of  the  fourteen  regions  of  the  city,  partially 
destroying  seven  others.  We  do  not  possess  satisfac- 
tory information  in  regard  to  all  the  historic  monu- 
ments that  perished  in  the  flames,  but  we  know  that 
among  them  were  the  temple  of  the  Moon,  the  founda- 
tion of  which  was  ascribed  to  Servius  Tullius,  the  Ara 


18  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

\ 

Maxima,  dedicated  to  Hercules,  tradition  said  by  Evan- 
der,  the  Arcadian ;  and  the  temples  of  Jupiter  Stator, 
of  Vesta,  and  of  the  Penates,  together  with  the  Regia. 
As  these  monuments  encircled  the  Palatine  hill,  we 
may  assume  that  the  imperial  residence  on  its  summit 
was  also  gutted,  but  evidence  on  this  point  is  want- 
ing. Countless  masterpieces  of  Greek  art  and  many 
ancient  relics  disappeared,  the  loss  of  which  the  older 
citizens  never  ceased  to  lament,  even  amidst  the  splen- 
dour of  the  new  city  which  rose  from  the  ashes. 

The  charge  that  Nero  had  wilfully  caused  the  fire  is 
neither  accepted  nor  rejected  by  Tacitus,  from  whom  we 
learn  that,  after  it  had  once  been  arrested,  it  burst  out 
again  in  the  Praedia  Aemiliana,  the  gardens  of  Nero's 
minion,  Tigellinus.  Dyer  suggests  that  the  emperor 
merely  improved  the  occasion  to  have  the  fire  already 
started  spread  more  widely  and  efface  certain  parts  of 
the  city,  which  he  wished  to  rebuild.  But  whether 
the  emperor  was  wholly  or  partially  responsible  for  the 
conflagration,  the  opportunity  thus  afforded  for  rebuild- 
ing was  at  once  improved  ;  new  plans  were  immediately 
drawn  in  accordance  with  the  best  engineering  and 
architectural  practice  of  the  time.  By  glancing  at  the 
narrow  and  tortuous  streets  and  lanes  in  the  marble  plan 
of  the  time  of  Septimius  Severus,  now  in  the  Capitoline 
Museum,  one  may  see  that  Nero's  projects  can  hardly  have 
been  fully  carried  out ;  they  must  have  left  untouched 
the  lower  and  more  congested  quarters  of  the  city. 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  REPUBLICAN  ROME 


1'J 


111  May,  1877,  I  myself  saw  a  strip  of  land  which 
showed  traces  of  this  fearful  conflagration.  While 
the  main  sewer  which  drains  the  Esquiline  and  the 
region  about  the  Coliseum  was  being  built  between 
the  arch  of  Constantine  and  the  site  of  the  Circus 
Maximus,  the  workmen  came  across  remains  of  houses, 
shops,  and  shrines  on  both  sides  of  a  street,  neatly  paved 


A-t>^^yAAjo>AAAA^VsMX*J^WCXiuXxi3^ 


('3,20) 


(10,16) 


.  _  i  _jj_i_j  _  j^  i_^_  j  —  j_g—  4_*^M_  ^  —  ;  _  ;_jj-«    j- 

(10|77) 


FIG.  0.  —  Section  of  excavations  in  the  Via  di  S.  Gregorio,  showing  changes 

of  level. 

with  flagstones  and   lined  by  sidewalks,  thirty-five    feet 
below  the  present  level  of  the  ground. 

The  street  had  apparently  descended  from  the  south- 
east corner  of  the  Palatine  where  now  is  the  Vigna  Bar- 
berini,  toward  the  foot  of  the  Clivus  Scauri,  now  the 
Piazza  di  S.  Gregorio.  From  this  place,  at  any  rate,  the 
debris  of  Xero's  fire  were  not,  as  might  have  been  in- 
ferred from  the  statement  of  Tacitus,1  carted  away  to  the 

JAnn.  XV.  43:  Ruderi  accipiendo  Ostienses  pahtfles  dfstinabat, 
iitique  naves,  quae  frumentum  Tiberi  subvcctassent,  onustae  rudere  decur- 
rerent. 


20  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

marshes  of  Ostia,  but  were  spread  on  the  spot ;  in  this 
way  the  level  of  the  valley  was  raised  at  once  by  ten  or 
fifteen  feet.  The  sectional  plan  presented  above  (Fig.  6), 
which  I  made  at  the  time  of  these  excavations,  shows  the 
superposition  of  streets  and  buildings  before  and  after 
the  fire ;  the  altitudes  are  given  in  metres. 

For  the  names  of  Nero's  chief  advisers  and  archi- 
tects in  the  rebuilding  of  the  city,  Severus  and  Celer, 
we  are  indebted  to  Tacitus,  who  says  of  them  that 
they  were  clever  and  daring  enough  to  undertake,  by 
artificial  means,  works  the  accomplishment  of  which 
nature  would  have  denied. 

A  fragment  of  the  marble  mausoleum  of  Celer  still 
exists  in  the  garden  of  S.  Agnese  fuori  le  Mura,  on 
the  Via  Nomentana  (Fig.  7)  .  The  epitaph  was  brief  but 
full  of  dignity l :  — 

CELERI  •  NERONIS  •  AVGVSTI  •  L[iberto]  •  A[rchitect]0 

The  block  containing  it  was  removed  from  the  tomb 
by  Pope  Symmachus  (498-514),  who  turned  it  into  a 
capital  for  one  of  the  columns  of  S.  Agnese. 

The  importance  of  fires  for  the  architectural  history 
of  Rome  in  the  imperial  period  may  easily  be  under- 
stood if  we  recall  the  changes  caused  by  this  means  in 
the  Forum  from  the  time  of  Nero  to  that  of  Diocletian. 
Four  times  during  this  period  the  centre  of  Rome  and 

1  Fabretti,  Inscriptiones  domesticae,  p.  721,  no.  431 ;  cf.  C.  I.  L. 
VI.  14,647. 


TRANSFORMATION   OF   REPUBLICAN   ROME 


21 


of  the  Roman  world,  the  CELEBERRIMVS  •  VRBIS  •  LOCVS, 
as  it  is  called  in  an  inscription, 1  was  swept  by  flames  ; 
four  times  it  was  rebuilt  on  a  different  plan.  First 
came  the  fire  of  Nero,  just  alluded  to  ;  then  the  fire  of 


FIG.  7.  —  Fragment  of  the  tomb  of  Celer. 

the  reign  of  Titus,  in  80  A.D.,  the  damages  of  which 
were  repaired  by  Domitian.  The  third  occurred  shortly 
before  the  death  of  Commodus,  in  191  A.D.  ;  the  build- 

1  Ephemeris  Epigraphica,  Vol.  III.,  1876,  p.  287. 


22  DESTRUCTION   OF  ANCIENT   ROME 

ings  were  restored  by  Septimius  Severus,  his  empress 
Julia  Domna,  and  his  son  Caracalla,  who  shifted  by 
thirty-three  degrees  the  orientation  of  the  edifices  bor- 
dering on  the  Clivus  Sacer.  We  have  no  detailed 
account  of  the  conflagration  in  the  reign  of  Carinus, 
283  A.D.,  but  to  judge  from  the  repairs  made  by  Dio- 
cletian and  Maxentius,  affecting  the  Basilica  Julia,  the 
Senate-house,  the  Forum  Julium,  and  the  temple  of 
Venus  and  Rome,  it  must  have  swept  from  one  end  of 
the  Sacra  Via  to  the  other. 

The  third  and  last  of  the  more  important  factors  in 
the  transformation  and  destruction  of  Rome  under  the 
Empire  was  the  building  of  the  great  public  baths.  The 
thermae  of  Caracalla  cover  an  area  of  118,255  square 
metres,  those  of  Diocletian  130,000  square  metres;  and 
the  areas  of  both  these  great  structures  were  occupied, 
before  212  and  305/6  A.D.  respectively,  by  rich  and  popu- 
lous quarters,  with  houses  and  insulae,  temples,  shrines, 
colonnades,  and  gardens.  The  buildings  which  stood  on 
a  higher  level  than  that  adopted  for  one  of  these  bath- 
ing establishments  were  destroyed  to  the  foundations ; 
the  materials  of  construction  taken  from  them  were 
saved  and  were  made  use  of  again  in  the  new  struc- 
ture. But  the  buildings  placed  on  a  lower  level  were 
left  standing  to  a  height  corresponding  with  that  of 
the  foundation  of  the  thermae,  and  simply  buried. 
This  practice  explains  the  reason  why  we  find  in  some 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  REPUBLICAN  ROME  23 

places  structures  of  two,  three,  and  even  four  different 
periods  lying  in  archaeological  strata  one  above  the 
other. 

The  palace  of  the  Flavian  emperors  on  the  Palatine 
rests  on  the  remains  of  private  houses  of  the  end 
of  the  Republic ;  these,  made  accessible  in  1721,  are 
wrongly  termed  Baths  of  Livia.  The  thermae  of  Titus 
and  of  Trajan  are  built  on  remains  of  the  Golden 
House  of  Nero,  and  this  last  was  extended  over  the 
remains  of  houses  built  before  the  fire  of  64  A.D.  ;  the 
three  strata  can  be  easily  recognised  at  the  north  en- 
trance to  the  cryptoporticus  of  the  Golden  House. 

The  Baths  of  Caracalla  were  composed  of  a  central 
building  surrounded  by  a  garden,  with  an  outer  enclos- 
ure lined  with  halls  and  rooms  for  bathing.  Nothing 
is  found  under  the  built  portion,  because  the  founda- 
tions of  the  massive  walls  were  of  necessity  carried 
down  to  the  level  of  the  virgin  soil ;  but  in  the  open 
spaces,  at  a  depth  of  only  a  few  inches  below  the  sur- 
face, are  found  remains  of  extensive  houses  and  other 
buildings  which  Caracalla  purchased  and  covered  up.1 

When  the  Via  Nazionale,  the  main  thoroughfare  of 
modern  Rome,  was  cut  in  1877  across  the  ridge  of  the 
Quirinal, — then  occupied  by  the  Aldobrandini  and  Ros- 
pigliosi  gardens,  —  the  workmen  first  brought  to  light 
remains  of  the  thermae  of  Constantino ;  underneath 

1  A  part  of  one  of  these  houses,  excavated  in  1860-1867  by  Guidi,  is 
shown  in  Bttins  and  Excavations,  Fig.  39. 


24  DESTRUCTION  OF   ANCIENT  ROME 

these  were  remains  of  the  house  of  Claudius  Claudi- 
anus  and  of  another  once  belonging  to  Avidius  Quietus ; 
and  lastly,  on  a  lower  level,  were  walls  of  early  reticulate 
work  (Fig.  8). 

Subsequent  excavations  on  the  site  of  the  same  baths 
have  given  us  the  means  of  reconstructing  the  map  of 
this  part  of  the  Quirinal  prior  to  the  time  of  Constan- 
tine,  and  of  obtaining  a  list,  possibly  complete,  of  the 
public  and  private  buildings  purchased  and  demolished 
by  this  Emperor  in  or  about  315  A.D.  The  list  com- 
prises the  palaces  of  T.  Flavius  Claudius  Claudianus 
and  of  T.  Avidius  Quietus  already  mentioned ;  the  pal- 
ace and  gardens  of  a  C.  Art(orius  ?)  Germanianus, 
of  a  Claudia  Vera,  of  a  Lucius  Naevius  Clemens,  of  a 
Marcus  Postumius  Festus ;  and  a  sacred  edifice,  the 
roof  of  which  was  made  of  marble  tiles.  These  tiles 
Constantino's  architect  made  use  of  in  laying  the  foun- 
dations of  the  Caldarium,  from  which  we  dug  them 
out,  one  by  one,  in  1879.  They  were  all  marked  with 
a  number,  so  that,  in  making  repairs,  the  roof  could 
be  taken  off  and  put  together  again  without  difficulty 
by  observing  the  sequence  of  the  figures.  In  another 
part  of  the  same  foundations  we  found  many  fragments 
of  statues  and  sculptured  marbles  built,  as  common 
materials,  into  the  rubble  work. 

A  similar  statement  would  hold  good  for  the  Baths 
of  Diocletian.  The  excavations  made  within  the  limits 
of  this  immense  structure  since  1870  in  connexion 


TRANSFORMATION   OF   REPUBLICAN    ROME  27 

with  work  on  the  railway  station,  the  Piazza  dei 
Cinquecento,  the  Grand  Hotel,  and  the  Massimi  palace, 
as  well  as  the  cutting  of  streets  and  the  laying  out 
of  new  gardens,  have  brought  to  light  the  remains  of 
several  preexisting  edifices,  —  among  them  the  offices 
of  a  Collegium  Fortunae  Felicis,  and  a  temple  built  on 
foundations  of  concrete  ;  a  colonnade  or  shrine  rebuilt 
by  Gnaeus  Sentius  Saturninus ;  pavements  of  streets, 
walls  of  private  houses,  and  a  reservoir.  The  materials 
of  all  these  buildings,  brick  and  marble,  were  used  over 
again  in  the  foundations  of  the  baths. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE  USE  OF  EARLIER  MATERIALS,  PARTICULARLY 
MARBLES,  IN  THE  BUILDING  OPERATIONS  OF  THE 
LATER  EMPIRE 

THE  practice  of  building  walls  with  architectural 
marbles,  blocks  containing  inscriptions,  statues,  and  other 
fine  materials  from  previous  structures,  goes  at  least 
as  far  back  as  the  reign  of  Septimius  Severus  (193- 
211  A.D.).  The  propylaea  of  the  Porticus  Octaviae 
were  restored  by  him,  in  the  year  203,  with  sculptured 
fragments  from  edifices  damaged  or  ruined  by  the 
fire  of  Titus.  The  upper  story  of  the  Coliseum  was 
likewise  restored  by  Severus  Alexander  in  223,  and  by 
Traianus  Decius  in  250,  with  a  patchwork  of  stones 
of  every  description,  —  trunks  of  columns,  fragments  of 
entablatures,  lintels  and  doorposts  taken  from  the 
amphitheatre  itself,  which  had  been  damaged  by  fire, 
or  brought  from  other  buildings  ;  several  of  the  frag- 
ments can  be  recognised  in  the  accompanying  illus- 
trations (Figs.  9,  10). 

Another  instance  of  certain  date  is  that  of  a  private 
bathing  establishment  discovered  January  30,  1873,  at 
the  junction  of  the  Via  Ariosto  with  the  Piazza  Dante 

28 


USE   OF   EARLIER    MATERIALS  29 

on  the  Esquiline.  It  was  a  graceful  little  building, 
dating  from  the  time  of  Diocletian  and  Constantine,  as 
proved  by  hundreds  of  brick  stamps  of  that  period 
found  in  the  walls  above  ground.  The  walls  below  the 


FIG.  9.  — Part  of  the  upper  story  of  the  Coliseum,  repaired 
with  materials  from  earlier  buildings. 

surface  were  built  of  statues  and  miscellaneous  frag- 
ments of  marble.  There  were  life-size  or  semi-colossal 
figures  of  Minerva,  of  the  Indian  Bacchus  and  of 
Aesculapius,  besides  several  torsos  and  other  fragments 


30  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

of  considerable  value  ;  a  column  shaped  like  the  lictors 
fasces,  with  capital  and  base  ;  and  the  basin  of  a  foun- 
tain in  pure  Greek  style.1 

A  more  familiar  illustration  is  the  triumphal  arch  of 
Constantine,  erected  by  the  Meta  Sudans  in  315  A.D. 
This  monument,  so  compact  and  perfect  to  the  eye,  is 


FIG.  10.  —  Another  view  of  the  upper  story  of  the  Coliseum,  showing  repairs 
made  with  architectural  fragments  from  various  sources. 

really  a  striking  example  of  the  way  in  which  old 
structures  were  pillaged  to  erect  new  ones.  If  we 
climb  to  the  chamber  above  the  arch  (there  is  a  nar- 

1  Bull  Com.,  1875,  p.  70,  Tav.  XI.  Fig.  1,  2;  Helbig,  Guide  to  the 
Public  Collections  of  Classical  Antiquities  in  Home,  Vol.  I.  p.  444, 
no.  601. 


USE  OF  EARLIER   MATERIALS  31 

row  staircase  in  the  side  facing  the  Palatine),  we  shall 
see  why  Milizia  gave  it  the  nickname  of  Cornacchia  di 
Esopo,  "Aesop's  crow."  We  shall  find  that  the  bas- 
reliefs  of  the  attic,  the  statues  of  the  Dacian  kings, 
the  eight  medallions  above  the  side  passages,  the  eight 
columns  of  giallo  antico,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
entablature  were  removed  from  a  triumphal  arch  of 
Trajan,  probably  the  areas  divi  Traiani  which  spanned 
the  Via  Appia  (or  the  Via  Nova)  near  the  Porta 
Capena.  The  inside  of  the  structure  also  is  built  with 
a  great  variety  of  materials  taken  from  the  tombs  of 
the  Fabii  and  of  the  Arruntii,  the  carvings  and  in- 
scriptions of  which  are  still  perfect. 

Under  the  rule  of  Constantine,  the  dismantling  of 
earlier  buildings  for  the  sake  of  their  materials  became 
a  common  practice  ;  this  statement,  startling  as  it  may 
appear,  will  not  be  considered  extravagant  by  any  one 
who  has  read  Ciampini's  "De  sacris  aedificiis  a  Con- 
stantino magno  constructis," l  or  Marangoni's  "  Delle 
cose  gentilesche  e  profane  trasportate  ad  uso  delle 
chiese,"2  or  Grimaldi's  "Diary  of  the  Destruction  of 
Old  St.  Peter's."3 

After  the  defeat  of  Maxentius,  in  the  year  312, 
Constantine  "erected  a  basilica  over  the  tomb  of  the 
blessed  Peter."4  This  was  built  hurriedly,  and  in  its 

1  Romae,  per  I.  Jacobum  Komarck,  1693,  in  fol. 

2  Romae,  1744,  in  4°.  •  Cod.  Barberin,  XXXIV.  50. 
*  Liber  Pontificalis,  Sylvester,  XVI.  p.  176. 


32  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

construction  first  of  all  a  part  of  the  adjoining  circus 
of  Caligula  and  Nero  was  utilised.  The  left  wing  of 
the  sacred  edifice  was  carried  over  the  three  northern 
walls  of  the  circus,  which  had  supported  the  seats  of 
the  spectators  on  the  side  of  the  Via  Cornelia.  The 
columns  for  the  basilica  were  brought  together  from  all 
quarters.  In  one  of  the  note-books  of  Antonio  da 
Sangallo  the  younger,1  I  found  a  memorandum  of  the 
quality,  size,  colour,  and  other  details  in  regard  to  one 
hundred  and  thirty-six  shafts.  Nearly  all  the  ancient 
quarries  were  represented  in  the  collection,  not  to 
speak  of  styles  and  periods.  Grimaldi  says  that  he 
could  not  find  two  capitals  or  two  bases  alike.  He 
adds  that  the  architrave  and  frieze  differed  from  one 
intercolumniation  to  another,  and  that  some  of  the 
blocks  bore  inscriptions  with  the  names  and  praises 
of  Titus,  Trajan,  Gallienus,  and  others.  The  walls  of 
the  basilica,  except  the  apse  and  the  arches,  were 
patched  with  fragments  of  tiles  and  of  stone.  On  each 
side  of  the  first  entrance,  at  the  foot  of  the  steps,  were 
two  granite  columns,  with  composite  capitals  showing  the 
bust  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian  framed  in  acanthus  leaves. 

In  the  construction  of  all  the  Christian  buildings  of 
the  fourth  century  we  may  well  believe  that  there  was 
a  similar  indebtedness  to  pagan  sources.  Some  of  these 
edifices,  as  the  church  of  S.  Agnese  and  the  adjoin- 
ing mausoleum  of  Constantia  on  the  Via  Nomentana, 
1  These  note-books  are  now  in  the  Uffizi,  Florence. 


USE  OF  EARLIER  MATERIALS  33 

the  church  of  St.  Lawrence  on  the  Via  Tiburtina,  and 
the  church  of  S.  Clemente,  are  still  standing  within  or 
without  the  walls.  Additional  proof  may  be  found 
in  the  accounts  left  by  those  who  saw  the  Basilica 
Salvatoris  in  Laterano,  and  that  of  St.  Paul  on  the 
road  to  Ostia,  before  their  modernisation.  In  some 
instances  the  location  and  use  of  blocks  of  marble  have 
been  changed  three  or  four  times.  A  pedestal  of  a 
statue  erected  in  the  year  193  in  the  town  hall  of  some 
municipality  in  the  vicinity  of  Rome,  was  utilised  in  the 
restoration  of  the  Baths  of  Caracalla  in  285.  Rufius 
Volusianus,  prefect  of  the  City  in  365,  removed  the 
block  from  the  Baths  and  turned  it  into  a  monument 
in  honour  of  Valentinian  I.  It  seems  finally  to  have 
disappeared  about  1548  in  a  lime-kiln  of  Pope  Paul  III.1 
The  great  department  of  imperial  administration  called 
"Department  of  Marbles"  (statio  marmoruni),  apparently 
suspended  operations  before  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
century ;  at  any  rate  we  have  been  unable  to  find  any 
structure  built  after  the  time  of  Constantine  with  ma- 
terials fresh  from  the  quarry.  This  is  the  more  re- 
markable in  view  of  the  fact  that  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tiber  at  the  marble  wharves  (La  Marmorata)  and  on 
those  of  Trajan's  channel  (Canale  di  Fiumicino),  where 
the  marbles  belonging  to  the  Emperor  or  to  private  im- 
porters were  landed,  there  still  remained  a  vast  number 
of  unused  blocks.  These  two  sources  of  supply  have 

1  C.  I.  L.  VI.  1173. 
t> 


34  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

been  drawn  upon  by  means  of  excavations  almost  unin- 
terruptedly since  the  time  of  the  Cosmatis,  and  yet 
their  wealth  in  blocks  and  columns  of  the  rarest  kinds 
of  breccias  seems  hardly  to  have  diminished.  The 
Romans  of  the  fourth  century,  however,  emperors  as 
well  as  private  citizens,  thought  it  less  troublesome  to 
rob  the  splendid  monuments  of  the  Republic  and  early 
Empire  of  their  ornaments  already  cajved,  and  to  trans- 
fer these  to  their  own  clumsy  structures,  than  to  work 
anew  the  materials  stored  at  La  Marmorata.  Abundant 
evidence  on  this  point  may  be  gained,  not  merely  from 
ecclesiastical,  but  also  from  secular  structures,  as  the 
four-faced  arch  of  the  Forum  Boarium,  the  temple  of 
Saturn  on  the  Clivus  Capitolinus,  the  bridges  of  Cestius 
(S.  Bartolomeo)  and  of  Valentinian  (Ponte  Sisto),  the 
Grain  Exchange  at  the  church  of  S.  Maria  in  Cos- 
medin,  the  arena  and  podium  of  the  Coliseum,  the 
Portions  Maximae  of  Gratian,  the  monumental  columns 
on  the  Sacra  Via,  the  market-hall  of  the  Caelian  (S. 
Stefano  Rotondo),  the  market-place  of  the  Esquiline  near 
S.  Vito,  the  shops  at  the  east  of  the  Forum  Romanum, 
and  a  hundred  other  buildings  of  the  Decadence. 

There  are  on  record  several  edicts  of  Constantius  II. 
(350-361)  having  to  do  with  the  compulsory  closing 
of  heathen  temples.  According  to  Libanius  he  often 
made  a  present  of  a  temple,  just  as  one  might  give 
away  a  dog  or  a  horse ;  and  Ammianus  makes  men- 
tion of  some  courtiers  who  had  received  gifts  of  this 


USE  OF  EARLIER  MATERIALS  35 

kind.1  But  the  fate  of  pagan  edifices  and  their  precious 
works  of  art  was  sealed  in  the  year  383,  when  Gratian 
did  away  with  all  the  privileges  of  the  temples  and 
priests,  and  confiscated  their  revenues.  Eight  years  later 
Valentinian  and  Theodosius  prohibited  sacrifices,  even 
if  strictly  domestic  and  private. 

These  decisive  measures  led  to  open  rebellion  on  the 
part  of  those  who  still  clung  to  the  ancient  beliefs, 
but  after  the  defeat  of  the  rebel  leader  Eugenius, 
which  took  place  early  in  September,  394,  the  temples 
were  closed  forever.  Strange  to  say,  this  prohibition 
of  the  pagan  worship  contributed  for  the  time  being 
to  the  embellishment  of  certain  parts  of  the  City,  such 
as  the  forums,  the  baths,  and  the  courts  of  justice, 
where  the  statues  of  the  gods,  expelled  from  their 
august  seats,  were  set  up  and  exhibited  simply  as  works 
of  art.2  This  is  referred  to  in  the  words  which 
Prudentius  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Theodosius,  when 
addressing  the  Senate  after  the  defeat  of  Eugenius 
(Contra  Sym.  I.  501-505):  — 

Marmora  tabenti  vespergine  tincta  lavate, 

O  proceres,  liceat  statuas  consistere  puras 

Artificum  magnorum  opera :   haec  pulcherrima  nostrae 

Ornamenta  fuant  patriae  nee  decolor  usus 

In  vitium  versae  monumenta  coinquinet  artis. 

1  See  Dyer,  History  of  the  City  of  Home,  ed.  of  1805,  p.  308. 

2  Interesting  information  on  this  subject  will  be  found  in  C.  I.  L. 
Vol.  VI.  Part  I.  ;  see  also  de   Rossi's  papers  in  Bull,  di  archeologia 
cristiana,  1865,  p.  5,  and  Bull.  Com.,  1874,  p.  174. 


36  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

The  practice  of  removing  statuary  from  places  of 
worship  to  civil  edifices  is,  however,  older  by  half  a 
century  than  the  decree  of  394.  As  early  as  the  year 
331  Anicius  Paulinus,  prefect  of  the  City,  transferred 
statues  to  the  thermae  of  the  Decii  on  the  Aventine 
(£  L  L.  VI.  1651);  Fabius  Titianus  lined  the  Sacra 
Via  with  other  examples  of  the  sculptor's  art  in  339- 
341 ;  in  the  same  way  Fabius  Felix  Passifilus  Paulinus 
embellished  the  Baths  of  Titus  in  355,  Clodius  Hermo- 
genianus  the  Baths  of  Trajan  in  368-370.  The  Basilica 
Julia  was  likewise  ornamented  with  borrowed  statues 
by  Gabinius  Vettius  Probianus  in  377 ;  parts  of  the 
pedestals  on  which  five  of  them  stood  have  come  to 
light  ((7.  I.  L.  VI.  1658),  and  contain  inscriptions  with 
the  formula,  statuam  quae  basilicae  Juliae  a  se  noviter 
reparatae  ornamento  esset,  adiecit.  Some  of  these  mas- 
terpieces were  of  Greek  origin ;  one  was  attributed  to 
Praxiteles,  the  others  to  Polyclitus,  Timarchus,  and 
Bryaxis. 

From  inscriptions  we  learn  also  that  in  later  times 
statues  were  overthrown  by  the  barbarians  in  their  in- 
cursions, and  by  the  citizens  in  civil  strifes.  A  pedes- 
tal discovered  in  the  fifteenth  century  near  S.  Maria 
Nuova,  at  the  top  of  the  Clivus  Sacer,  bore  the  in- 
scription :  Castalius  Innocentius  Audax  v(ir)  cQarissimusy 
praef{ectu8)  urbis  ....  barbarica  incursione  sublata  resti- 
tuit  ((7.  I.  L.  VI.  1663).  Another,  discovered  during 
the  pontificate  of  Julius  III.  (1550-1555),  speaks  of  a 


USE  OF  EARLIER  MATERIALS  37 

statue  of  Minerva  that  had  been  thrown  down  at  the 
time  of  a  tire  caused  by  a  riot,  and  set  up  again 
by  Anicius  Acilius  Aginatius,  apparently  in  483  A.D. 
((7.  /.  L.  VI.  1664). 

To  what  use  the  temples  were  put  immediately  after 
the  expulsion  of  their  gods,  we  do  not  know;  but  it  is 
certain  that  they  were  not  occupied  by  Christians,  nor 
turned  into  places  of  Christian  worship.  This  change 
was  only  to  take  place  two  centuries  later,  when  the 
scruples  about  the  propriety  of  worshipping  the  true 
God  in  heathen  temples  had  been  overcome. 

In  the  year  609,  Pope  Boniface  IV.  "asked  the 
Emperor  Phocas  for  the  temple  which  was  called  Pan- 
theon, and  turned  it  into  a  church  of  Mary  the  Virgin 
ever  blessed."  Two  periods,  then,  may  be  distinguished 
in  the  converting  of  pagan  edifices  into  places  of  Chris- 
tian worship,  one  anterior  to  the  year  609,  the  other 
following  that  date.  During  the  first,  civil  edifices 
alone  were  transformed,  partially  or  completely,  into 
churches ;  such  were  the  Record  Office,  which  became 
the  church  of  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian,  and  the  round 
market  on  the  Caelian  Hill,  now  S.  Stefano  Rotondo. 
After  609  almost  every  available  building,  whether  secu- 
lar or  sacred,  was  made  into  a  church  or  chapel,  until 
the  places  of  worship  seemed  to  outnumber  the  houses. 

We  must  not  imagine,  however,  that  the  good-will 
of  the  emperors  and  the  guardianship  of  the  prefects  of 
the  City  saved  all  statues  from  destruction.  Far  from 


38  DESTRUCTION  OF   ANCIENT  ROME 

it !  Public  protection  was  extended  only  to  the  works 
of  art  which  adorned  the  streets,  squares,  baths,  parks, 
and  public  buildings,  few  in  number  when  compared 
with  the  thousands  upon  thousands  that  belonged  to 
private  owners.  A  special  magistrate  was  appointed 
to  take  charge  of  this  branch  of  public  administration, 
under  the  title  of  Curator  Statuarum,  "  Keeper  of  Stat- 
ues " ;  but  the  office  was  not  long  kept  up.  King 
Theoderic  and  his  adviser  Cassiodorius  revived  it  in 
the  year  500,  in  order  to  save  the  statues  from  the 
hands  of  lime-burners,  stone-cutters,  and  masons,  the 
three  bodies  of  marble-hunters  mentioned  by  Cassio- 
dorius (Variar.  VII.  13).  The  Curator  Statuarum 
then  had  the  help  of  two  assessors,  —  one  to  protect 
the  abandoned  buildings  from  illegal  plundering, 
the  other  to  control  the  lime-kilns ;  and  yet  Theo- 
deric himself  caused  the  columns  and  marbles  of 
the  Domus  Pinciana  to  be  removed  from  Rome  to 
Ravenna.1 

The  destruction  of  marble  statuary  may  well  be 
illustrated  by  the  fate  of  the  pretiosissima  deorum 
simulacra,  "most  precious  images  of  the  gods,"  placed 
by  Augustus  in  the  compital  shrines  at  the  crossings 
of  the  main  thoroughfares  of  the  City,  in  the  years 
10-7  B.C.  The  number  of  these  shrines  —  about  two 
hundred  in  the  time  of  Augustus  —  had  been  increased 
to  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  in  73  A.D.,  and  to 

1  Cassiod.  Variar.  III.  10,  ed.  Mommseu. 


USE  OF  EARLIER  MATERIALS  39 

three  hundred  and  twenty-four  at  the  beginning  of 
the  fourth  century.  They  offered  an  almost  complete 
chronological  series  of  works  of  Greek  plastic  art  to 
the  appreciation  of  the  citizens  of  Rome.  What  has 
become  of  all  these  "  most  precious  images "  ?  If  we 
consider  that  only  one  plinth  and  four  pedestals1  of 
that  incomparable  series  have  come  down  to  us,  we 
cannot  doubt  that  the  three  hundred  and  twenty-four 
"most  precious  images"  of  Greek  workmanship  belong- 
ing to  the  compital  shrines  shared  the  same  fate  as 
those  from  the  temples,  —  they  were  broken  to  pieces, 
and  the  pieces  thrown  into  the  lime-kilns,  or  built  into 
the  walls  of  new  buildings,  as  if  they  were  the  cheapest 
rubble. 

Foundation  walls  built  up  in  part  of  statues  and 
busts  have  been  found  by  the  score.  I  add  here 
a  few  examples  from  the  "  Memoirs  "  of  Flaminio  Vacca 
(1594)  and  of  Pietro  Sante  Bartoli  (about  1675). 2 

"A  foundation  wall  which  runs  under  the  hospital  of 
St.  John  Lateran,"  Vacca  reports,  "  is  built  entirely  of 
fragments  of  excellent  statuary.  I  saw  there  knees  and 

1  The  plinth  was  discovered  in   1896,  near  the  so-called  temple  of 
Mater  Matuta  (S.  Maria  del  Sole)  in  the  piazza  Bocca  della  Verita.     It 
belonged  to  a  celebrated  work  of  Scopas  the  younger,  being  inscribed 
OPTS  SCOPAE  MIXORIS,  —  a  statue  of  Hercules,  surnamed  Olivarius  from 
the  location  of  the  shrine  near  the  Olive  Market.    See  Huelsen,  "  II  Foro 
Boario,"  in  Dissert.  Accad.  archeol.  Serie  II.  Vol.  VI.  p.  261.      I  have 
described  the  four  pedestals  in  Pagan  and  Christian  Home,  pp.  34,  35. 

2  Edited  by  Fea  in  Vol.  I.  of  the  Miscellanea,  Rome,  1790. 


40  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

elbows  modelled  in  the  style  of  the  Laocoon  of  the  Belve- 
dere" (Mem.  p.  13).  Further,  "In  the  walls  and  foun- 
dations of  an  old  house,  which  stood  near  S.  Lorenzo 
fuori  le  Mura,  and  was  pulled  down  to  make  room  for 
a  square  in  front  of  that  church,  eighteen  or  twenty 
portrait-busts  of  emperors  were  discovered.  Most  of 
them  were  removed  to  the  Farnese  Gallery "  (ibid. 
p.  11).  And  again,  "A  great  block  of  masonry  was 
levelled  to  the  ground  in  the  vineyard  of  Hannibal 
Caro,  outside  the  Porta  San  Giovanni,  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  plantation.  A  complete  set  of  busts  of 
the  twelve  Caesars,  as  well  as  of  other  emperors,  a 
marble  sarcophagus  bearing  bas-reliefs  of  the  twelve 
labours  of  Hercules,  and  other  line  marbles  were  found 
embedded  in  the  masonry.  I  have  forgotten  what  be- 
came of  the  busts  ;  the  front  of  the  sarcophagus,  how- 
ever, was  cut  away  and  sent  to  Nuvolara,  a  villa  of 
Monsignor  Visconti,"  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Po 
(ibid.  p.  48). 

"  When  the  Via  Graziosa  was  opened  in  1684,"  says 
Bartoli,  "along  the  north  slope  of  the  Cespian,  opposite 
S.  Lorenzo  in  Panisperna,  remains  of  ancient  houses 
were  found,1  and  fragments  of  an  exquisite  statue  of 
Venus  built  into  a  wall.  The  statue  was  afterwards 
restored  by  Ercole  Ferrata  for  Queen  Christine  of 
Sweden"  (Mem.  p.  17).  Finally,  "In  exploring  the 
cellar  of  a  house  on  the  Corso,  the  famous  architect, 

1  See  Ruins  and  Excavations,  p.  393,  Fig.  149. 


USE  OF  EARLIER  MATERIALS  41 

Lorenzo  Bernini,  discovered  seven  statues  broken  in 
pieces  and  built  into  a  wall.  The  statues  were  restored 
almost  perfectly,  so  few  were  the  fragments  missing" 
(ibid.  p.  42). 

Francesco  de'  Ficoroni  saw,  in  the  year  1693,  ua  very 
great  number  of  fragments  of  the  most  beautiful  stat- 
ues, which  had  served  as  building  materials"  for  the 
foundations  of  the  Torre  di  Nona,  near  the  bridge  of 
S.  Angelo  (Mem.  p.  2).  The  same  archaeologist  speaks 
of  blocks  of  alabaster  discovered,  in  1705,  under  the 
last  tower  of  the  City  walls  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Tiber,  by  the  Monte  Testaccio.  One  of  the  blocks  of 
alabastro  fiorito  was  cut  into  slabs  and  used  in  the 
decoration  of  the  front  of  the  altar  of  the  Madonna  del 
Sasso  in  the  Pantheon  (ibid.  p.  105).  A  replica  of  the 
Laocoon  is  known  to  be  buried  in  the  substructures  of 
the  church  of  S.  Pudentiana,  and  a  fine  statue  of  colossal 
size  under  S.  Marcello. 

Were  I  to  relate  my  personal  experience  in  the  way 
of  similar  finds,  the  entire  volume  would  hardly  suffice 
for  the  narrative.  In  all  sorts  of  places,  both  within 
and  without  the  walls  of  the  City,  I  have  come  across 
fragments  of  statuary  used  as  rubble,  in  the  older 
strata  as  well  as  in  those  of  later  periods.  Two  or 
three  instances  must  answer  for  all. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  second  or  the  beginning  of 
the  third  century,  a  colony  of  Greek  sculptors  came  to 
Rome  from  Aphrodisias,  in  Caria,  and  set  up  a  studio 


42  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

on  the  Esquiline  hill,  between  the  Baths  of  Titus  and 
the  gardens  of  Maecenas.  They  were  active  artists 
indeed,  and  worked  harmoniously  under  the  mastership 
of  a  leader,  whom  they  called  apxiepevs  (high  priest). 
One  day  their  workshop  and  their  exhibition  rooms 
came  to '  grief  ;  whether  by  fire,  or  by  the  fall  of  the 
building,  or  by  violence  of  men,  I  cannot  tell.  In  the 
spring  of  1886,  when  the  Via  Buonarroti  was  being  cut 
through  in  the  direction  of  the  Baths  of  Titus,  a  wall 
was  discovered  entirely  built  with  the  contents  of  the 
studio.  There  were  statues  of  Jupiter,  Juno,  Pluto, 
Aesculapius,  Cybele,  Minerva  Parthenos,  Hercules  ;  bac- 
chic  vases,  fountains,  mouths  of  wells,  candelabras, 
figures  of  animals,  bas-reliefs,  and  other  carvings  ;  and 
nearly  all  the  works  were  signed  by  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  artistic  brotherhood  from  Aphrodisias  — 
seventeen  signatures  in  all.  The  fact  that  no  essential 
portions  of  each  work  were  missing  shows  that  they 
were  brought  entire  to  the  scene  of  destruction,  and 
then  broken  up  and  thrown  into  a  foundation  wall. 

Two  years  and  a  half  later,  in  November,  1888,  a 
discovery  of  the  same  kind  was  made  on  the  site  of 
the  temple  of  Isis,  now  crossed  by  the  Via  Michel- 
angelo, the  Via  Galileo,  Via  Leopardi,  and  other  streets. 
Another  wall  was  found  containing  three  or  four  hun- 
dred fragments  of  sculpture,  out  of  which  fourteen 
statues,  or  important  portions  of  statues,  have  been 
reconstructed.  They  represent  Jupiter,  Serapis,  Isis 


USE   OF  EARLIER   MATERIALS  43 

crowned  with  poppies  and  ears  of  grain,  and  the  same 
goddess  veiled,  with  a  crescent  on  her  forehead  ;  there 
are  also  three  replicas  of  the  same  type,  and  a  female 
figure  wearing  the  Egyptian  head-dress,  probably  a  por- 
trait-statue. These  marbles  are,  beyond  doubt,  spoils 
from  the  great  temple  close  by,  hammered  and  broken 
and  utilised  as  building  materials,  after  the  closing  of 
the  temple  itself.  Apparently  the  sanctuary  supplied 
marbles  and  stone  to  the  whole  neighbourhood  for  cen- 
turies. At  the  foot  of  the  platform  on  which  it  stood 
another  wall  was  found  in  December,  1888,  built  with 
blocks  of  amethyst  breccia  (breccia  ametistina),  amount- 
ing in  all  to  twenty  or  twenty-five  cubic  feet. 

In  1884,  while  collecting  specimens  of  rare  marbles, 
to  be  exhibited  in  the  Museo  Urbano  in  the  Orto 
Botanico,  I  was  shown  a  beautiful  piece  of  purplish 
granite,  with  oval  spots  resembling  in  shape  and  colour 
those  of  a  leopard's  skin,  which  had  just  been  discov- 
ered under  the  Hickson  Field  palace,  on  the  Via  Meru- 
lana.  As  the  block  was  not  entirely  shapeless,  but 
bore  marks  of  the  chisel  on  one  side,  it  was  given  to 
me  with  the  stipulation  that  if,  in  the  future,  other 
pieces  of  the  same  object  should  be  found,  the  donation 
should  be  cancelled.  Two  years  later,  when  the  con- 
vent of  the  Cluny  Sisters  was  being  built,  at  a  distance 
of  six  hundred  feet  from  the  Field  palace,  what  should 
be  brought  to  light  but  the  missing  portions  of  that 
very  work  of  art  !  It  was  a  beautiful  and  nearly  per- 


44  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

feet  replica  of  the  sacred  cow,  Hatlior,  —  the  symbol  of 
Isis,  —  seemingly  copied  from  the  original,  discovered  in 
1884  among  the  ruins  of  the  temple  of  Isis  in  the  Campus 
Martius.  After  such  instances  of  the  destruction  and 
dispersion  of  statuary,  can  we  wonder  at  the  fate  of 


FIG.  11.  —  A  statue,  broken  into  fragments,  in  process  of  reconstruction. 

the  Farnese  Hercules,  the  torso  of  which  was  found  in 
the  Baths  of  Caracalla,  the  head  at  the  bottom  of  a 
well  in  the  Trastevere,  and  the  legs  at  Bovillae,  ten 
miles  from  Rome? 


USE  OF  EARLIER  MATERIALS  45 

In  the  accompanying  illustration  (Fig.  11)  we  see 
in  process  of  reconstruction  a  statue  of  Victory  that 
had  been  broken  into  151  pieces.  It  was  discovered 
in  the  house  of  L.  Aurelius  Avianius  Symmachus  on 
the  Caelian.1 

My  experience  in  the  excavations  at  Rome  has  sug- 
gested the  following  observation  in  regard  to  the  con- 
dition of  marble  statues  when  discovered  :  Those  found 
in  loose  earth,  among  the  ruins  of  the  edifices  to  which 
they  belonged,  generally  lack  head  and  arms ;  but  those 
that  have  been  used  as  building  material  in  foundation 
walls  can  often  be  reconstructed  in  their  entirety,  head 
and  arms  being  not  far  away. 

These  facts  show  that  before  the  burial  of  Ancient 
Rome,  many  of  the  statues  had  been  injured  by  knock- 
ing off  their  most  prominent  and  easily  broken  parts. 
The  loss  of  head  and  arms  may  in  some  cases  have 
resulted  from  the  overthrowing  of  the  statue,  the  body 
remaining  where  it  fell,  the  head  rolling  off  to  one  side. 
Most  of  the  loose  heads  are  rounded  and  smooth  as  if 
street-idlers  had  used  them  to  play  the  popular  game 
of  bocce.2  Some  of  them  have  a  hook  or  ring  on  the 
crown,  and  must  have  been  used  as  weights  for  large 

1  Ruins  and  Excavations,  p.  347. 

2  This  is  a  purely  Italian  game  played  with  six  larger  balls  and  one 
smaller  one,  which  is  used  as  a  mark.    Each  of  the  two  players  rolls  three 
balls,  and  those  that  stop  nearest  the  mark  gain  a  point.     The  temptation 
to  use  loose  heads  of  statues  when  wooden  balls  were  not  available  must 
have  been  strong. 


46  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

scales.  The  five  or  six  hundred  heads  discovered  in 
my  time  were  all,  except  a  dozen  or  two,  without  noses. 
The  fact  that  heads  and  arms  of  statues  used  as  build- 
ing materials  are  rarely  missing,  shows  that  the  break- 
ing up  of  statuary  became  common  at  a  comparatively 
early  period  of  the  Roman  decadence,  when  the  works 
of  art  ornamenting  palaces  and  gardens  had  as  yet 
suffered  but  little  injury. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE    ASPECT    OF    THE    CITY    AT    THE    BEGINNING   OF 
THE  FIFTH  CENTURY 

ALTHOUGH  Rome  had  not  recovered,  and  could  not 
recover,  from  the  removal  of  the  imperial  court  to 
Byzantium,  accomplished  in  330,  yet  at  the  beginning 
of  the  fifth  century  the  great  buildings  still  remained 
substantially  intact,  and  a  few  additions  were  made 
to  the  list  of  existing  monuments.  The  architectural 
impressiveness  of  the  City  may  be  measured  by  the 
effect  that  it  produced  upon  the  mind  of  Constantius 
II.,  who  visited  it  in  357,  twenty-seven  years  after 
the  Palatine  had  ceased  to  be  the  seat  of  imperial 
government.  A  graphic  account  of  the  visit  is  given 
by  Ammianus  Marcellinus  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Book 
XVI.,  from  which  I  quote  but  one  passage  referring  to 
the  Forum  of  Trajan  :  — 

"  Having  now  entered  the  Forum  Trajanum,  the  most 
marvellous  creation  of  human  genius,  he  was  struck 
with  wonder,  and  looked  around  in  amazement  at  the 
great  structures,  which  no  pen  can  describe,  and  which 
mankind  can  create  and  behold  but  once  in  the  course 
of  centuries.  .  .  .  Then  he  turned  his  attention  to 

47 


48  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

the  equestrian  statue  in  the  centre  of  the  Forum,  and 
said  to  his  attendants  he  would  have  one  like  it  in 
Constantinople  :  to  which  Hormisdas,  a  young  Persian 
prince  attached  to  the  court,  replied,  'You  must  first 
provide  your  horse  with  a  stable  like  this.' ' 

Constantius  was  indeed  overwhelmed  by  the  great- 
ness of  Rome.  The  other  edifices  mentioned  as  having 
especially  astonished  him  are  the  temple  of  Jupiter  on 
the  Capitoline,  the  Baths,  the  Flavian  Amphitheatre, 
the  Pantheon,  the  temple  of  Venus  and  Rome,  the 
theatre  of  Pompey,  the  Odeum,  and  the  Stadium. 

There  is  also  a  monumental  record  of  this  imperial 
visit :  the  highest  obelisk  of  the  world,  erected  by 
Thothmes  III.  before  the  great  temple  at  Thebes,  re- 
moved by  Constantius  to  Rome,  and  set  up  in  the  Cir- 
cus Maximus.  It  now  stands  in  the  piazza  of  the 
Lateran.  Constantius  is  said  to  have  taken  away  the 
superb  statue  of  Victory,  presented  by  Augustus,  from 
the  Senate-house ;  but  it  must  have  been  saved  from 
injury,  for  Julian  the  Apostate  (361-363)  was  able  to 
place  it  again  on  its  pedestal. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  to  form  a  conception  of  the 
magnificence  of  Rome,  even  in  its  decline.  According 
to  the  regionary  catalogue  compiled  in  the  time  of  Con- 
stantine,1  the  City  then  "  contained  2  circuses,  2  amphi- 

1  There  are  two  editions  of  this  catalogue.  The  first,  known  by  the 
name  of  Notitia  Begionum  Urbis  Bomae,  dates  from  A.D.  334 ;  the  sec- 
ond, called  Curiosum  urbis  Bomae  regionum  XIV.,  must  have  been 


BEGINNING  OF  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY  40 

theatres,  3  theatres,  10  basilicas,  11  thermae,  36  arches 
of  marble,  2  commemorative  columns,  6  obelisks  (im- 
ported from  Egypt),  423  temples,  1790  domus — that  is, 
extensive  private  residences,  or  palaces,  of  the  wealthy 
—  besides  which  there  were  reckoned  46,602  tenements 
(insulae).  The  open  places  were  adorned  with  2  colossi 
(probably  those  of  Nero  and  Augustus),  22  'great 
horses '-  — presumably  counting  not  merely  the  large 
equestrian  statues,  as  that  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  now  in 
the  square  of  the  Capitol,  but  also  groups  of  which 
horses  formed  a  part,  as  those  of  the  Dioscuri  on  the 
Capitoline  and  of  the  Horse-tamers  on  the  Quirinal ;  to 
which  are  added  80  gilded  and  77  ivory  statues  of  the 
gods,  no  mention  being  made  of  the  countless  lesser 
statues  on  every  side."  In  the  number  of  obelisks,  at 
any  rate,  the  catalogue  falls  far  short  of  the  truth ;  and 
statistics  such  as  these,  impressive  though  they  may  be, 
are  after  all  of  no  real  assistance  in  trying  to  form  an 
idea  of  the  aspect  of  the  City  unless  we  are  able  to 
reconstruct,  in  imagination,  the  buildings  and  works  of 
art  so  concisely  summarised. 

The  year  403  is  memorable  for  the  celebration  of  a 
triumph,  the  last  ever  seen  in  Ancient  Rome.  A  cen- 
tury had  elapsed  since  the  Romans  had  beheld  such  a 

issued  in  or  after  357,  because  it  mentions  the  obelisk  raised  in  that  year 
in  the  Circus  Maximus.     For  a  bibliography  on  these  two  invaluable 
documents  see  Ruins  and  Excavations,  p.  vii. 
E 


50  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

sight  —  Diocletian's  triumph  in  303  ;  nay,  in  that  -space 
of  time  they  had  only  thrice  seen  the  face  of  an  em- 
peror. The  pretext  for  this  pageant  was  the  subjuga- 
tion of  the  Numidian  rebel,  Count  Gildo.  This  event 
is  commemorated  by  several  existing  monuments.  One 
is  a  pedestal  of  an  equestrian  group,  discovered  in  the 
Forum  near  the  arch  of  Septimius  Severus  between 
1549  and  1565  ;  it  bears  an  inscription,  from  which  we 
learn  that  it  was  erected  by  the  Senate  and  the  Roman 
people  as  a  testimonial  of  their  rejoicing  at  the  crush- 
ing of  the  rebellion  and  the  recovery  of  Africa.  In 
the  same  place  was  found  the  pedestal  of  a  statue 
erected  in  honour  of  Stilicho,  the  inscription  of  which 
distinctly  attributes  to  him  the  reconquest  of  Africa, 
directly  in  the  face  of  the  historical  evidence.1 
A  third  inscription,  commemorating  the  repairing  of 
the  Claudian  and  Marcian  aqueducts,  in  the  plain  of 
Arsoli,  with  the  money  confiscated  from  the  rebels, 
is  preserved  in  the  palace  of  Prince  Massimi  at 
Arsoli. 

Another  historic  monument  relating  to  the  Gothic 
wars  stands  on  the  edge  of  the  Forum  opposite  the 
Senate-house.  The  inscription  praises  the  gallantry  of 
the  army  of  Arcadius,  Honorius,  and  Theodosius  in  de- 
feating Rhadagaisus  at  the  battle  of  Florence  in  405; 
the  victory  being  attributed  to  Stilicho,  —  post  con- 

1  See  Huelsen,  "II  monumento  della  guerra  GiWonica  sul  Foro  Ro- 
mano," in  Mttheil,  1895,  p.  52 ;  C.  I.  L.  VI.  1187,  1730. 


BEGINNING   <>F   THE    FIFTH   CKNTUKY 


.1 


fecf.um    Grothicum  bellum  .  .  .  consiliis  ct  fortitudine  .  .  . 
Flavii  Stilichon is . l 


FIG.  12.  —  The  monument  of  Stilicho  in  the  Forum. 

This   memorial,   shown  in   our  illustration   (Fig.   12), 
set  up  "by  decree  of  the  Senate  and  the  Roman  people, 

1  Notizie  degli  Scavi,  1880,  p.  53. 


52  DESTRUCTION   OF  ANCIENT   ROME 

under  the  care  of  Pisidius  Romulus,  prefect  of  the 
City,"  is  the  meanest  and  poorest  in  the  whole  Forum. 
It  presents  indisputable  evidence  of  the  decline  of 
pride,  taste,  and  resources  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century.  It  is  made  of  two  blocks,  one  of  travertine, 
which  forms  the  base,  and  one  of  marble  above.  The 
marble  block  had  previously  been  used  as  a  pedestal 
for  an  equestrian  statue  of  bronze ;  the  statue  was 
knocked  off,  the  pedestal  set  up  awkwardly  on  one 
end,  the  cracks  in  it  being  brought  together  with  iron 
clamps ;  then  the  old  inscription  was  carefully  obliter- 
ated, and  the  new  one  cut  over  it.  In  the  same  year, 
405,  a  triumphal  arch  was  raised  to  the  three  Em- 
perors—  with  spoils  of  other  edifices  —  "  because  they 
had  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth  the  nation  of  the 
Goths."  Four  years  later,  the  very  barbarians  whom 
they  boasted  to  have  annihilated,  stormed  and  sacked 
the  city. 

The  arch  just  mentioned  stood  by  the  church  of 
S.  Orso,  near  S.  Giovanni  de'  Fiorentini.  Just  as  in 
classical  times,  such  honorary  monuments  were  raised 
on  the  Sacra  Via,  leading  to  the  great  temple  of 
Jupiter  Optimus  Maximus,  so  now,  in  the  Christian 
era,  they  were  built  over  the  roads  converging  towards 
St.  Peter's,  and  especially  at  the  foot  of  the  bridges 
which  the  pilgrims  had  to  cross  on  their  way  to  the 
Apostle's  tomb.  The  arch  of  Gratianus,  Valentinianus, 
and  Theodosius,  erected  in  the  year  382,  stood  in  the 


BEGINNING  OF  THE   FIFTH  CENTURY  53 

Piazza  di  Ponte  S.  Angelo,  that  of  Arcadius,  Honorius, 
and  Theodosius  (405  A.D.)  at  the  approach  to  the  Pons 
Vaticanus,  that  of  Valentinian  and  Valens  (366-367) 
by  the  Ponte  Sisto. 

The  Emperors  Arcadius  and  Honorius,  fearing  an 
advance  of  the  Goths  under  Alaric,  undertook  the  gen- 
eral restoration  of  the  City  walls  under  the  direction 
of  Stilicho.  The  work  was  finished  in  January,  402, 
and  celebrated  by  several  inscriptions,  three  of  which, 
cut  on  the  Porta  Tiburtina,  Porta  Praenestina,  and 
Porta  Portuensis,  have  come  down  to  us.1  They  speak 
not  only  of  "the  restoration  of  the  walls,  gates,  and 
towers  of  the  Eternal  City,"  but  also  of  "the  removal 
of  large  masses  of  rubbish."  This  allusion  to  the  dispo- 
sition of  rubbish  is  of  great  importance  for  our  subject, 
because  it  gives  us  the  date  and  the  cause  of  the  first 
great  rise  in  the  level  of  the  City,  at  least  of  the  outly- 
ing districts.  After  the  removal  of  the  imperial  court  to 
Byzantium,  the  municipal  regulations  requiring  the  re- 
moval of  the  City  refuse  to  a  safe  distance  apparently 
fell  into  abeyance ;  and  all  sorts  of  material  seem  to 
have  been  heaped  up  against  the  walls.  Stilicho  had 
neither  time  nor  means  to  cart  away  the  bank  of  debris, 
which  certainly  diminished  his  chances  of  a  success- 
ful defence ;  so  he  contented  himself  with  levelling  it 
off  and  spreading  it  over  the  adjoining  land.  In 
402,  therefore,  the  level  of  imperial  Rome  on  the 

1  C.  I.  L.  VI.  1188-1190. 


54 


DESTRUCTION   OF   ANCIENT  ROME 


line    of  the  walls  was  raised  at  once  by  ten  or  twelve 
feet. 

The  best  evidence  of  this  fact  is  to  be  found  at  the 
Porta  Ostiensis,  now  Porta  di  S.  Paolo,  close  to  the  pyra- 
mid of  Cestius  (Fig.  13).  The  threshold  of  the  gate 
of  402  is  about  twelve  feet  higher  than  the  base  of  the 
pyramid  and  the  threshold  of  the  gate  of  272.  Again, 
the  arch  of  Augustus  on  the  Via  Tiburtina,  which 


FIG.  13.  —  The  raising  of  level  at  the  Porta  Ostiensis,  A.D.  402.      The  Pyramid 
of  Cestius  is  shown  at  the  left. 


formed  the  Tiburtine  gate  of  272,  is  ten  or  twelve  feet 
lower  than  the  gate  of  402. 1  The  same  observation 
applies  to  the  Porta  Flaminia,  Porta  Praenestina,  Porta 
Portuensis,  and  Porta  Septimiana.  The  Porta  Appia 
seems  to  have  been  rebuilt  with  materials  taken  from 
the  beautiful  temple  of  Mars  outside  the  walls,  without 
any  change  of  level.  In  only  one  part  of  the  walls 
have  I  found  traces  of  a  lowering  of  the  soil  below  the 

1  See  the  illustration  in  Ruins  and  Excavations,  p.  76. 


BEGINNING   OF   THE   FIFTH   CENTURY  55 

level  of   the  classical  period.     This  single  exception  is 
at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  Praetorian  camp. 

The  gates  of  Honorius  have  been  ruthlessly  treated 
in  modern  times.  Sixtus  IV.  dismantled  the  Porta 
Flamiiiia  in  1478  ;  Alexander  VI.  destroyed  the  Porta 
Septimiana  in  1-198  ;  Pius  IV.,  the  Nomentana  in  1564  ; 
Urban  VIII.,  the  Portuensis  and  the  Aurelia  in  1642  ; 
Gregory  XVI.,  the  Praenestina  in  1838.  In  1869 
Pius  IX.  dismantled  the  Porta  Tiburtina,  in  order  to 
make  use  of  the  stones  of  which  it  was  built  in  the 
foundations  of  the  "  Colonna  del  Concilio  "  at  the  church 
of  S.  Pietro  in  Montorio.  The  Porta  Salaria,  damaged 
in  the  bombardment  of  September  20,  1870,  was  rebuilt 
in  its  present  form  in  1872. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  SACK  OF   THE   GOTHS  IN  410,  AND  ITS 
CONSEQUENCES 

THE  repairing  of  the  city  walls  by  Arcadius  and 
Honorius  was  accomplished  none  too  soon.  The  suc- 
cess of  Stilicho  in  checking  the  advance  of  the  Goths 
at  the  battle  of  Florence,  in  405,  was  only  temporary; 
the  barbarian  host,  two  hundred  thousand  strong,  had 
overrun  the  plains  of  northern  Italy,  and  would  un- 
doubtedly take  advantage  of  a  favourable  opportunity 
to  attack  Rome  itself.  Such  an  opportunity  came  with 
the  disgrace  and  death  of  Stilicho,  who  was  banished 
in  407  and  murdered  at  Ravenna  in  408 ;  his  name 
was  even  erased  from  the  monument  erected  in  his 
honour  in  the  Forum,  described  in  the  previous  chapter. 
The  Roman  leader  had  hardly  been  put  out  of  the  way 
before  Rome  saw,  for  the  first  time  since  the  Gallic 
invasion  of  390  B.C.,  a  host  of  barbarians  surrounding 
the  walls.  This  time  Alaric  was  induced  to  lead  his 
army  away  by  the  payment  of  an  exorbitant  ransom, 
one  of  the  items  of  which  was  five  thousand  pounds 
of  gold.  In  order  to  meet  this  demand,  the  Romans 

50 


THE   SACK   OF   THE   GOTHS   IN  410  57 

were  compelled  to  strip  the  bronze  statues  of  their 
heavy  gilding.1 

Two  years  later,  in  410,  Alaric  and  his  hordes 
entered  the  City,  on  the  twenty-fourth  day  of  August, 
in  the  dead  of  night  by  the  Porta  Salaria,  and  set  fire 
to  the  houses  near  the  gate,  among  which  was  the 
imperial  mansion  in  the  gardens  of  Sallust.  The  lives 
of  the  citizens  were  spared,  but  the  City  was  aban- 
doned to  plunder,  except  as  regards  the  two  sacred 
enclosures  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  At  the  end  of 
the  third  day  the  barbarians  withdrew,  carrying  off  an 
incredible  amount  of  articles  of  value,  among  which — 
if  we  are  to  believe  Procopius  —  were  the  spoils  of  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem  which  Titus  had  placed  in  the 
temple  of  Peace ;  but  the  testimony  of  Procopius  on 
this  point  may  well  be  doubted. 

In  these  days  of  terror  the  Aventine  with  its  130 
palaces,  the  most  aristocratic  quarter  of  the  city,  suf- 
fered more  than  all  the  other  regions.  I  have  wit- 
nessed excavations  made  in  the  Vigna  Torlonia,  among 
the  remains  of  the  Thermae  Decianae  and  of  the  house 
of  Trajan ;  in  the  Vigna  Maciocchi,  among  the  ruins  of 
the  palace  of  Annia  Cornificia  Faustina,  younger  sister 
of  Marcus  Aurelius  and  wife  of  Ummidius  Quadratus ; 
in  the  garden  of  S.  Anselmo,  where  the  palace  of  the 

1  Zosimus,  V.  45,  speaks  of  the  actual  melting  of  gold  and  silver 
statues,  and  also  of  the  gold  and  silver  ornaments  of  bronze  or  mar- 
ble statues. 


58  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

Pactumeii  was  discovered  in  1892  ;  and  in  the  garden 
of  S.  Sabina,  once  occupied  by  the  houses  of  Cosmus, 
Minister  of  Finance  under  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  of 
Marcella  and  Principia,  the  friends  of  St.  Jerome.  In 
watching  these  excavations,  I  was  struck  by  the  fact 
that  these  beautiful  palaces  must  have  perished  towards 
the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century  of  our  era,  and  all 
from  the  same  cause.  The  signs  of  destruction  are 
everywhere  the  same:  traces  of  flames  which  black- 
ened the  red  ground  of  the  frescoes,  and  caused  the 
roofs  to  fall  on  the  mosaic  or  marble  pavements  of 
the  ground  floor ;  coins  scattered  among  the  ruins, 
belonging,  with  rare  exceptions,  to  the  fourth  century ; 
statues  that  had  been  restored  over  and  over  again ; 
marbles  stolen  from  pagan  buildings,  mostly  from  sepul- 
chral monuments,  and  utilised  for  hurried  restorations ; 
and  Christian  symbols  on  lamps  and  domestic  utensils. 
These  indications  fix  the  period  and  point  to  the  same 
historical  event,  —  the  capture  and  pillage  of  Rome  by 
the  Goths  in  August,  410.  The  Aventine  paid  dearly 
for  the  partiality  shown  for  it  by  the  noble  and  the 
wealthy.  The  treasures  accumulated  in  its  palaces 
roused  the  cupidity  of  the  invaders,  and  led  them  to 
excesses  of  plunder  and  destruction  such  as  were  spared 
to  more  humble  districts  of  the  City. 

Although  the  imperial  casino  in  the  gardens  of  Sal- 
lust  is  the  only  structure  distinctly  mentioned  by  histo- 
rians as  having  been  consumed  by  fire,  we  are  constantly 


THE   SACK   OF   THE   GOTHS   IN  410  59 

discovering  evidences  of  a  far  more  widespread  loss  from 
this  cause ;  and  even  among  the  written  records  of  those 
eventful  days  some  new  particulars  come  to  light,  from 
time  to  time,  as  in  the  following  instance  :  — 

On  the  Caelian  Hill,  between  S.  Stefano  Rotondo  and 
the  Lateran,  there  was  a  palace  belonging  to  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Valerii  Poplicolae,  namely,  to  Valerius 
Severus,  prefect  of  Rome  in  the  year  386,  and  to  his 
son  Pinianus,  husband  of  Melania  the  younger.  The 
palace  was  so  beautiful  aud  contained  so  much  wealth, 
that  when  Pinianus  and  Melania,  crushed  with  grief 
on  account  of  the  loss  of  all  their  children,  put  it  up 
for  sale  in  404,  they  found  none  willing  to  purchase 
it  —  ad  tarn  magnum  et  mirabile  opus  accedere  nemo  ausus 
fuit.  However,  seven  or  eight  years  later  the  same 
palace  was  sold  for  little  or  nothing  —  domus  pro  nihilo 
venumdata  est.  The  reason  for  such  a  change  has  lately 
been  discovered  in  a  manuscript  of  the  library  of  Char- 
tres.  The  barbarians  had  plundered  the  palace  of  all 
its  valuables,  and  wrecked  it  by  fire.1 

Additional  evidence  regarding  the  fate  of  the  palaces 
on  the  Aventine  is  furnished  by  St.  Jerome,  in  Epistles 
54  and  127.  One  of  these  palaces,  as  we  have  seen, 
belonged  to  Marcella,  the  founder  of  monastic  life  in 
Rome.  This  noble  matron  was  left  a  widow  after 
seven  months  of  marriage,  and  being  pressed  by  the 
Consul  Cerealis  to  marry  again,  determined  to  sever 
1  Compare,  however.  Ruins  and  Excavations,  p.  345. 


60  DESTRUCTION   OF   ANCIENT   ROME 

all  connection  with  the  world  for  the  rest  of  her  life. 
Following  the  rule  of  St.  Athanasius,  Bishop  of  Alex- 
andria, she  dressed  herself  in  simple  garb,  gave  up  the 
use  of  wine  and  meat,  and  divided  her  time  between 
the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  prayers,  and  pilgrimages 
to  the  tombs  of  apostles  and  martyrs.  St.  Jerome  be- 
came Marcella's  spiritual  adviser ;  such  was  the  serenity 
and  beauty  of  her  character,  that  in  one  of  his  letters 
she  is  addressed  as  "the  pride  of  Roman  matrons." 
However,  when  Rome  became  the  prey  of  the  Goths, 
the  barbarians  broke  into  her  peaceful  retreat  and  tor- 
tured her  in  an  attempt  to  discover  the  secret  hiding- 
place  of  her  treasures,  treasures  that  she  had  long 
before  given  up  to  the  needy.  Fearing  more  for  the 
safety  of  Principia,  whom  she  had  adopted  as  a  spirit- 
ual daughter,  than  for  her  own  life,  she  threw  herself 
at  the  feet  of  the  Gothic  chieftain  and  begged  to  be 
conducted  to  the  church  of  St.  Paul  outside  the  walls, 
which,  like  St.  Peter's,  had  been  set  apart  by  Alaric 
as  a  refuge  for  women  and  children.  The  destruction 
of  her  Aventine  home  and  the  shock  of  the  torture 
and  pillage  brought  Marcella's  life  to  a  close  ;  she  died 
before  the  end  of  that  eventful  August. 

The  barbarians  attacked  with  equal  fury  the  public 
buildings  of  the  Aventine,  especially  the  thermae. 
One  of  these  establishments,  called  Thermae  Decianae 
from  the  family  of  the  Caecinae  Decii,  who  had  built 
it  in  the  neighbourhood  of  their  palace,  was  under- 


THE   SACK  OF  THE   GOTHS   IN  410  61 

mined  by  the  Goths  so  that  the  main  wall  of  the  tepi- 
darium  leaned  forward,  dragging  into  its  own  ruin  all 
the  neighbouring  halls.  The  damages,  as  well  as  the 
repairs  made  in  haste  by  Caecina  Decius  Albinus  in 
the  year  414,  are  described  in  an  inscription  discovered 
on  the  spot  in  1725,  and  now  preserved  in  the  Capi- 
toline  Museum.1  The  temple  of  Juno  Regina,  first 
erected  by  Camillus  after  the  capture  of  Veii,  and  re- 
built in  imperial  times  with  great  magnificence,  seems 
to  have  been  seriously  injured,  if  not  destroyed,  on  this 
occasion.  Its  marbles  were  made  use  of  by  Peter,  an 
Illyrian  priest,  who  built  the  church  of  S.  Sabina  in  425. 

Such  being  the  fate  of  the  Aventine,  with  its  luxuri- 
ous homes  and  countless  treasures,  it  need  not  surprise 
us  if  the  Genius  of  the  place  (as  the  ancients  would 
say)  has  now  and  then  vouchsafed  to  us  modern 
searchers  after  antiquities  a  truly  remarkable  find. 
Such  a  find  was  that  made  in  the  pontificate  of  Pius 
IV.  by  Matteo  da  Castello,  the  Pope's  architect,  who, 
while  planting  a  vineyard  near  the  church  of  S. 
Prisca,  came  across  two  or  three  receptacles  of  lead, 
containing  eighteen  hundred  pieces  of  gold,  with  the 
image  of  the  Empress  Helena  on  one  side,  and  the  sym- 
bol of  the  cross  on  the  other.  He  duly  notified  the 
Pope  of  his  discovery,  and  received  the  whole  treasure 
as  a  present.  The  gold  was  valued  at  about  three 

1  C.  I.  L.  VI.  1703. 


62  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

thousand  dollars.  Flaminio  Galgano,  a  contemporary  of 
Matteo  da  Castello,  was  equally  fortunate.  While 
quarrying  stone  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  near  S.  Prisca, 
he  discovered  in  the  heart  of  the  rock  a  square  room, 
with  the  pavement  inlaid  with  pieces  of  agate  and 
cornelian,  and  the  walls  covered  with  panels  of  gilt 
copper,  in  the  cornice  of  which  rare  medals  were  set  as 
a  motive  of  decoration.  The  room  contained  many 
paterae  and  instruments  of  sacrifice,  all  damaged  by  fire. 
Pietro  Sante  Bartoli,  in  his  Memoirs  (n.  128),  gives 
the  following  account  of  another  find,  probably  asso- 
ciated with  the  same  barbarian  invasion:  "When  Urban 
VIII.  built  the  Bastione  del  Priorato  di  Malta,  in  front 
of  the  church  of  S.  Maria  Aventiria,  many  curious 
things  were  discovered.  Among  them  was  a  hiding- 
place,  formed  by  two  walls,  inside  of  which  was  con- 
cealed a  silver  table  service,  worked  in  repousse.  The 
place  of  concealment  was  covered  and  screened  from 
view  by  a  piece  of  a  marble  cornice,  since  removed  to 
the  Villa  Pamfili.  Another  treasure  of  gold  coins, 
rings,  and  other  precious  objects  was  found  inside  an 
earthen  jar;  the  police,  acting  under  the  orders  of  Car- 
dinal Antonio  Barberini,  sought  far  and  wide  for  the 
finder,  but  they  could  never  lay  hands  on  him.  A  few 
days  after,  another  workman  from  Aquila  discovered  a 
leaden  box,  and,  although  his  pay  for  several  weeks  of 
labour  was  still  to  his  credit,  he  thought  it  better  to 
abscond  with  the  box  than  to  wait  for  his  money." 


THE   SACK  OF  THE  GOTHS   IN  410  63 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  set  of  silverware  ever 
buried  in  Rome  for  fear  of  barbarian  plundering  is  the 
one  discovered  between  June,  1793,  and  March  of  the 
following  year,  under  the  convent  of  the  Paolotte,  on 
the  Via  di  S.  Lucia  in  Selce,  the  ancient  Clivus  Su- 
buranus.  The  collection,  which  belonged  to  the  toilet- 
service  of  a  lady  of  rank,  weighed  1029  ounces,  and 
comprised  a  pyxis  inscribed  with  the  names  of  Turcius 
Asterius  Secundus  and  of  his  wife  Projecta,  two  can- 
dlesticks in  the  shape  of  brackets,  five  plates  and  four 
soup-plates,  with  the  name  "Projecta  Turci,"  in  gold- 
niello,  five  goblets  in  the  shape  of  ewers,  a  wash- 
basin in  the  shape  of  a  shell,  and  lamps,  forks,  and 
spoons,  together  with  remains  of  a  sedan  chair  and 
sundry  other  articles,  the  catalogue  of  which  is  given 
by  Ennio  Quirino  Visconti.1  Pius  VI.  allowed  the 
treasure  to  be  disposed  of  by  sale.  A  few  pieces  were 
bought  by  Carlo  Gherardi,  and  resold  to  Baron  von 
Kevenhuller ;  all  the  rest  were  purchased  by  Baron 
von  Schellersheim.  The  finest  objects  are  now  exhib- 
ited in  the  British  Museum,  thanks  to  the  generosity 
of  the  late  Sir  Augustus  Franks.  The  silver  set  was 
evidently  hidden  in  great  haste.  Visconti  affirms  that 
he  saw  a  piece  of  a  linen  towel  inside  the  shell-shaped 
basin,  "a  proof,"  he  says,  "of  the  hurry  with  which 
the  treasure  was  buried."  The  concealment  must  have 

1  Lettera  di  Ennio  Quirino  Visconti  intorno  ad  una  antica  supeUettile 
(Vargento,  etc.  2d  ed.  Rome,  1827,  xxv.  plates. 


64  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

taken  place  after  362  A.D.,  when  Turcius  Asterius 
Secundus  was  prefect  of  the  City,  and  in  fact  after 
his  death,  because  some  of  the  pieces  bear  the  name  of 
a  Peregrina,  who  seems  to  have  been  his  daughter. 
We  are  not  far,  therefore,  from  the  date  of  the  sack 
of  410.  The  question  naturally  suggests  itself  :  Why 
this  collection  of  valuables,  and  many  others  concealed 
at  the  same  time  and  for  the  same  cause,  were  not 
dug  out  and  recovered  after  the  retreat  of  the  bar- 
barians? The  inquiry  is  more  easily  raised  than 
answered.  Perhaps  the  one  or  two  persons  who 
knew  the  secret  lost  their  lives  in  the  sack  of  410 ; 
possibly  the  palace  of  the  Asterii  was  burnt  to  the 
ground,  and  all  access  to  the  hiding-place  cut  off. 

The  barbarian  invasions  had  one  result  which,  from 
the  archaeological  point  of  view,  is  of  even  greater  sig- 
nificance than  the  burying  of  treasure  :  I  refer  to  the 
careful  hiding  of  bronze  statues  in  times  of  panic  in 
order  to  save  them  from  injury  or  destruction,  thus 
making  possible  their  rediscovery  in  modern  times  in 
a  perfect  state  of  preservation.  Of  course,  in  many 
instances,  we  are  not  able  to  determine  whether  the 
concealment  took  place  in  410  rather  than  in  455  or 
537,  or  some  other  year.  What  we  do  know  is,  that 
bronzes  were  hidden  through  fear  of  an  imminent  ca- 
lamity; and  the  presumption  is  in  favour  of  the  earlier 
date  because  the  number  of  bronze  statues  in  existence 
must  have  been  vastly  diminished  after  the  first  sack- 
ing of  the  City. 


THE  SACK  OF  THE  GOTHS  IN  410  65 

It  has  been  suggested  that  fear  of  the  Christians,  on 
account  of  the  acts  of  violence  occasionally  committed 
by  the  populace  against  the  temples  and  their  contents, 
may  have  been  the  cause  that  led  to  the  concealment 
of  images,  particularly  of  the  gods ;  but  deeds  of  vio- 
lence against  pagan  sanctuaries  —  not  uncommon  in  the 
East,  as  in  the  case  of  the  destruction  of  the  magnifi- 
cent Serapeum  at  Alexandria  in  391 — were  extremely 
rare  in  Rome.  The  rough  painting  in  one  of  the  cata- 
combs of  the  Via  Salaria  Vetus  which  represents  the 
overthrowing  of  a  statue1  is  unique  in  its  way;  and 
though  St.  Augustine2  speaks  of  "the  overthrowing  of 
all  the  images  in  the  City  of  Rome,"  his  words,  obviously 
metaphorical,  are  contradicted  by  Claudianus,3  who,  writ- 
ing in  the  year  403,  mentions  vast  multitudes  of  bronze 
and  marble  statues,  lining  the  streets  and  the  forums.4 

Statues  were  sometimes  concealed  by  the  magistrates 
themselves.  Two  inscriptions,  one  of  which  was  dis- 
covered at  Benevento,  the  other  at  Capua,  describe  the 
reerection  of  works  of  statuary,  reperta  in  abditis  locis, 
or  translata  ex  abditis  locis.  I  have  described  elsewhere 5 

1  De  Rossi,  Bull,  di  arch,  crist..  1865,  pp.  3,  4. 

2  Augustine,  Sermo  cv  de  rerbis  evang.  Luc.  X.  13. 
8  De  vi.  consulatu  Honorii,  42. 

4  Fuller  information  on  this  subject  will  be  found  in  Edmund  Le 
Blant's  paper,  "  De  quelques  statues  cache"es  par  les  anciens,"  published 
in  Compte-rendus  de  I'Acad.  dcs  Inscriptions,  1890,  p.  541  ;  and  in 
Grisar's  Ipapi  del  Medio  Evo,  ital.  edit,  of  1897,  Vol.  I.  p.  38. 

6  Ruins  and  Excavations,  p.  456. 


66  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

the  discovery  of  the  bronze  Hercules  Invictus  which 
had  been  hidden  by  the  charioteers  of  the  Circus  Maxi- 
mus,  and  of  the  Hercules  Magnus  Gustos  concealed  by 
those  of  the  Circus  Flaminius ;  the  first  came  to  light 
in  the  time  of  Sixtus  IV.  (1471-1484),  the  second  in 
1864.  This  last  had  been  carefully  buried  in  a  kind 
of  coffin  made  of  slabs  of  portasanta.  The  bronze 
gladiator,  likewise,  discovered  in  March,  1885,  in  the 
foundations  of  the  Teatro  Drammatico  on  the  Via 
Nazionale,  had  not  been  buried  in  haste  in  that  heap 
of  rubbish,  but  had  been  treated  with  the  utmost  care. 
The  figure,  which  was  in  a  sitting  posture,  had  been 
poised  on  a  stone  capital,  as  upon  a  stool,  and  the 
trench,  which  had  been  dug  under  the  platform  of  the 
temple  of  the  Sun  to  conceal  the  statue,  had  been 
filled  with  finely  sifted  earth,  in  order  to  save  the 
bronze  from  any  possible  injury. 

As  a  rule,  the  bronzes  discovered  in  Rome  since 
the  Renaissance  —  I  speak  of  this  later  period  because 
our  knowledge  of  earlier  finds  is  too  imperfect  and  frag- 
mentary to  be  of  value  —  had  been  carefully  hidden, 
or  even  thrown  into  the  Tiber,  in  times  of  panic.  The 
secret  of  the  place  of  hiding  was  lost,  either  on  account 
of  the  death  of  those  who  knew  the  spot,  or  because 
the  great  masses  of  debris  had  made  it  impossible  to 
reach  it  again. 

Many  of  these  places  of  concealment  have  been  found 
in  our  days ;  three  of  them  deserve  special  mention. 


FIG.  14.  —  Brouze  heads  fouud  in  1880  under  the  English  church,  Via  del 

Babuino. 

1.  Augustus.  2.   Nero. 

3,  4.   Portrait  head  of  the  first  century  —  name  unknown. 


THE   SACK  OF  THE   GOTHS  IN  410  69 

The  first  is  the  treasure-trove  unearthed  in  1849,  a  few 
weeks  before  the  storming  of  Rome  by  the  French 
army  under  General  Oudinot,  beneath  the  house  at  No. 
17,  Vicolo  delle  Palme,  now  Vicolo  dell'  Atleta.  It  con- 
sisted of  a  marble  copy  of  the  bronze  Apoxyomenos  of 
Lysippus ;  of  the  bronze  horse,  now  in  the  Palazzo  dei 
Conservatori,  described  by  Emil  Braun  as  "an  unique 
work,  a  masterpiece,  and  a  genuine  Grecian  antique " ; 
of  a  bronze  foot  with  a  particularly  ornamental  caliga, 
which  may  possibly  have  belonged  to  the  rider  of  the 
horse  ;  of  a  bronze  bull,-  and  many  other  fragments  of 
less  importance. 

The  second  discovery  was  made  September  15,  1880, 
at  the  corner  of  the  Via  del  Babuino  and  Via  del 
Gesu  e  Maria  where  the  English  Church  of  All  Saints 
was  in  process  of  erection.1  The  bronzes  lay  nineteen 
feet  below  the  threshold  of  the  main  door.  There 
was  a  head  of  more  than  life  size,  which  was  thought 
to  represent  Augustus,  and  to  have  some  connexion 
with  the  mausoleum  of  that  Emperor ;  a  head  of  Nero 
with  the  eyes  perforated,  and  several  busts  of  un- 
known personages  of  the  first  century. 

The  third  discovery  took  place  about  the  same 
time  at  the  corner  of  the  Via  Nazionale  and  Via  di 
S.  Eufemia,  while  the  Marchesa  Capranica  del  Grillo 
(Madame  Ristori)  was  laying  the  foundations  of  her 
city  house.  The  treasure  consisted  of  marbles  and 
i  Bull.  Com.,  1881,  p.  30,  pi.  i. 


70  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

bronzes.  The  latter  rank  among  the  best  specimens 
of  Greco-Roman  art,  if  indeed  they  are  not  purely 
Greek.  There  was  a  sitting  statue  of  Cybele,  holding 
a  diminutive  millstone  in  the  left  hand ;  the  mouth 
of  a  fountain  in  the  shape  of  a  lion's  head,  and  the 
head  of  a  youth,  the  most  superb  piece  of  bronze  work  I 
have  ever  seen.  These  bronzes  all  soon  disappeared,  and 
I  have  never  been  able  to  find  out  what  became  of  them. 

Another  consequence  of  the  Gothic  invasion  was  the 
abandonment  of  the  Catacombs.  Christian  archaeolo- 
gists have  stated  that  burials  .in  the  Catacombs,  very 
rare  between  400  and  410  on  account  of  the  insecurity 
of  the  suburbs,  were  given  up  altogether  after  410. 
The  reason  for  this  abandonment  is  easily  seen.  The 
storming  of  Alaric  marks,  thus,  the  end  of  a  great  and 
glorious  era  in  the  history  of  "  underground  Rome  " ;  it 
put  an  end  altogether  to  the  work  of  the  fossores, 

After  suffering  more  damage  in  the  invasion  of  457, 
the  Catacombs  were  irreparably  devastated  in  537, 
during  the  siege  of  the  Goths  under  Vitiges.  It  is 
distinctly  stated  by  the  biographer  of  Pope  Silverius 
(536-537)  that  "  churches  and  tombs  of  martyrs  were 
destroyed  by  the  Goths";  but  it  is  not  easy  for  us  to 
understand  why  the  Goths,  bigoted  Christians  as  they 
were  and  full  of  respect  for  the  basilicas  of  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul,  as  Procopius  declares,  should  have  ran- 
sacked the  Catacombs  and  have  violated  the  tombs  of 
martyrs,  breaking  up  their  commemorative  inscriptions. 


THE   SACK  OF  THE   GOTHS   IN  410  71 

Perhaps  they  could  not  read  Latin  or  Greek  epitaphs, 
and  so  were  unable  to  make  a  distinction  between 
pagan  and  Christian  cemeteries ;  perhaps  they  were 
hunting  for  hidden  treasures,  or  the  relics  of  saints. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  reason  of  their  behav- 
iour, it  is  certainly  a  significant  fact  that  at  least  two 
encampments  of  the  Goths  in  537  were  just  over  the 
Catacombs  and  around  their  entrances  ;  one  on  the  Via 
Salaria,  over  the  Catacombs  of  Thrason,  and  the  other 
on  the  Via  Labicana,  over  those  of  Peter  and  Marcel- 
linus.  The  barbarians,  naturally,  could  hardly  resist 
the  temptation  to  explore  those  subterranean  wonders  ; 
indeed,  they  were  obliged  to  do  so  by  the  most  ele- 
mentary rules  of  precaution.  In  each  of  the  two  cata- 
combs mentioned,  a  memorial  tablet  has  been  found 
commemorating  the  repairs  made  in  haste  by  Pope 
Vigilius  between  March,  537,  the  date  of  the  retreat 
of  Vitiges,  and  the  following  November,  the  date  of 
the  journey  of  Vigilius  to  Constantinople.1  Traces  of 
this  Pope's  restorations  have  been  found  also  in  other 
catacombs,  especially  in  those  of  Callixtus  and  Hip- 
polytus.  His  example  was-  followed  by  private  indi- 
viduals. The  tomb  of  Crysanthus  and  Daria,  in  the 
Via  Salaria,  was  repaired  after  the  retreat  of  the  bar- 
barians pauperis  ex  censu,  with  the  modest  means  of 
one  of  the  humbler  followers  of  the  Master. 

Notwithstanding  the  feeling   of  insecurity  caused  by 

1  Cf.  Payan  and  Christian  Home,  p.  324. 


72  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

the  sack  of  410,  the  body  of  the  Emperor  Honorius, 
who  died  at  Ravenna,  August  15,  423,  was  not  interred 
in  that  city,  but  was  transported  to  Rome  and  given 
burial  in  the  imperial  mausoleum  which  had  been 
raised  on  the  south  side  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  in 
wretched  imitation  of  the  great  structures  of  Augustus 
and  Hadrian.  This  tomb  of  the  decadence  was  com- 
posed of  two  round  halls,  joined  by  a  covered  passage. 
Each  rotunda  contained  six  or  seven  recesses,  in  which 
the  imperial  sarcophagi  were  placed.  Mention  of  the 
structure  with  its  genuine  denomination  of  mosileos 
(mausoleum)  occurs  in  the  life  of  Stephen  II.  (752 
A.D.),  who  placed  in  the  western  chambers  the  remains 
of  Petronilla,  the  supposed  daughter  of  St.  Peter, 
whence  it  derived  its  mediaeval  name  of  S.  Petronilla  ; 
the  other  rotunda  was  known  as  the  chapel  of  St. 
Andrew,  and  also  of  "Our  Lady  of  the  Fever."  The 
first  building  was  destroyed  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  to  make  room  for  the  south  transept  of 
the  new  basilica,  where  the  chapel  of  Saints  Simon  and 
Judas  now  stands  ;  the  other  met  with  a  similar  fate 
during  the  pontificate  of  Pius  VI.,  and  its  place  was 
occupied  by  the  new  sacristy.  The  architecture  of  the 
mosileos,  so  similar  to  that  of  the  tomb  of  St.  Helena 
(the  Torre  Pignattara)  on  the  Via  Labicana,  gives  us 
the  measure  of  the  decline  of  Roman  art  and  civilisa- 
tion, when  we  compare  it  with  the  imposing  mauso- 
leums of  Augustus  and  Hadrian. 


THE  SACK  OF  THE  GOTHS  IN  410  73 

The  robbery  of  the  imperial  graves  which  filled 
the  two  rotundas  by  St.  Peter's  was  accomplished  at 
various  times  and  by  various  persons.  It  excels,  in 
refinement  of  barbarous  and  useless  destruction,  all  the 
other  deeds  of  the  unscrupulous  age  in  which  it 
occurred.  The  first  desecration  dates  from  1458 ;  the 
second  took  place  in  1519 ;  the  last,  in  1544.  The 
unique  set  of  crown  jewels  of  the  fifth  century  was 
sent  to  the  mint,  or  sold  or  given  away.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  a  bulla  inscribed  with  the  names  of  Hono- 
rius  and  his  empress  Maria,  daughter  of  Stilicho  and 
Serena,  and  sister  of  Thermantia  and  Eucherius,  which 
is  now  in  the  hands  of  Prince  Trivulzio  of  Milan, 
every  other  specimen  has  disappeared  or  lost  its 
identity. 


THE  SACK  OF  ROME  BY  THE  VANDALS  IX  455 

THE  exact  date  of  the  second  capture  of  Rome,  by 
Genseric  and  the  Vandals,  is  not  known,  but  it  was 
probably  the  beginning  of  June,  455,  three  days  after 
the  murder  of  Petronius  Maximus,  who  had  himself 
caused  the  death  of  Valentinian  III.,  and  usurped  the 
throne.  The  Vandals,  with  whom  were  mixed  Bedouins 
and  Moors,  entered  the  City  by  the  Porta  Portuensis, 
and  plundered  it  at  leisure  for  the  space  of  fourteen 
days.  The  booty  was  carted  off  methodically  to  the 
ships  moored  alongside  the  quays,  now  called  La  Mar- 
morata  and  Ripa  grande.  The  palace  of  the  Caesars, 
which  Valentinian  III.,  unlike  his  predecessors,  had  con- 
stantly occupied  and  had  kept  in  repair,  was  stripped 
even  of  its  commonest  furniture.  The  temple  of  Jupi- 
ter Optimus  Maximus,  who  from  the  lofty  summit  of 
the  Capitoline  hill  had  presided  over  the  destinies  of 
the  Roman  Commonwealth  since  the  time  of  the  Tar- 
quins,  was  also  put  to  ransom  ;  its  statues  and  votive 
offerings  were  carried  off  to  adorn  the  African  resi- 
dence of  Genseric,  and  half  the  roof  was  stripped  of 
its  tiles  of  gilt  bronze.  It  is  also  reported  that  the 

74 


THE  SACK  OF  THE   VANDALS   IN  455  75 

trophies  of  the  Jewish  war,  represented  in  the  bas- 
reliefs  of  the  arch  of  Titus  and  deposited  by  him  in 
the  temple  of  Peace,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  barba- 
rians. These  spoils,  as  well  as  the  massive  gold  plate 
plundered  from  the  Roman  churches,  were  discovered  at 
Carthage,  eighty  years  later,  by  Belisarius,  and  carried 
back  in  triumph,  not  to  Rome,  but  to  Constantinople. 

We  have  a  memorial  of  these  eventful  days  in  the 
Basilica  Eudoxiana,  now  the  church  of  S.  Pietro  in  Vin- 
coli,  which  was  built  by  Eudoxia  the  younger,  widow 
of  Valentinian  III.,  and  a  victim,  first,  of  the  usurper 
Maximus,  and  then  of  Genseric.  This  beautiful  church 
is  built  with  columns  of  Greek  marble  taken  from  one 
of  the  neighbouring  edifices,  perhaps  the  Baths  of 
Titus  or  of  Trajan,  or  the  Porticus  Tellurensis  —  a  fact 
which  shows  how  little  respect  was  paid  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  imperial  families  to  the  laws  concerning 
the  preservation  of  ancient  buildings.  The  edict  of 
Maiorianus,  issued  at  Ravenna  in  458,  forbidding  once 
more  the  dismantling  of  ancient  structures  for  the  erec- 
tion of  new  ones,  confirms  our  belief  that  the  former 
had  come  to  be  looked  upon  as  stone  quarries. 

I  cannot  undertake  here  to  speak  with  more  detail 
of  the  consequences  of  the  sack  of  the  Vandals,  as  re- 
gards the  fate  of  buildings  and  works  of  art,  for  the 
reason  that  exact  information  is.  wanting.  In  most 
cases  we  are  not  in  a  position  to  know  whether  cer- 
tain results  followed  this  invasion,  or  those  of  later 


76         DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

date.  Nor  does  it  fall  within  my  province  to  recount 
the  history  of  the  City  for  the  half-century  after  the 
storming  of  Genseric, — truly  a  harrowing  narrative  of 
siege,  famine,  pillage,  massacre,  fires,  and  pestilence.  In 
general  we  may  assume  that  the  last  half  of  the  fifth 
century  was  almost  as  disastrous  a  period  for  the  history 
of  the  Roman  monuments  as  it  was  for  the  wretched 
inhabitants. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  CITY  IX  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY 

AT  the  opening  of  the  sixth  century  the  prevailing 
gloom  is  penetrated,  and  thrown  into  even  stronger 
contrast,  by  a  ray  of  light.  A  new  era  seemed  to 
dawn  with  the  accession  of  Theoderic,  whose  enlight- 
ened administration  (500-526)  gave  itself  no  little 
concern  for  the  remains  of  Rome's  greatness.  On  the 
day  of  his  arrival  in  Rome  Theoderic  addressed  kind 
words  to  the  people  from  the  rostra  in  front  of  the 
Senate-house  (in  loco  qui  Palma  aurea  dicitur),  and 
then  proceeded  to  the  palace  of  the  Caesars.  The  pro- 
visions made  by  this  Prince  for  the  improvement  of  the 
City  are  recorded  in  the  Variae  of  his  secretary,  Cas- 
siodorius.  He  appointed  a  body  of  engineers  and  archi- 
tects to  superintend  the  restoration  of  public  edifices, 
under  the  direction  of  an  arcliitectus  publicorum,  and 
as  we  have  already  seen  he  revived  the  office  of  the 
"  keeper  of  statues."  The  theatre  of  Pompey  was  re- 
paired with  the  help  of  one  of  the  great  men  of  the 
age,  Avianius  Symmachus  ;  the  Coliseum,  with  the  help 
of  Decius  Marius  Venantius  Basilius,  prefect  of  the 
City  in  the  year  508.  The  duty  of  putting  the  aque- 

77 


78  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

ducts  in  order,  and  keeping  the  baths  and  the  foun- 
tains well  supplied  with  water  was  entrusted  to  a  comes 
formarum  urbis;  the  care  of  public  sewers  to  a  sani- 
tary engineer  named  Johannes ;  the  charge  of  the  har- 
bour of  Rome  was  given  to  a  harbour-master  (comes 
portus  urbis  Romae),  assisted  by  a  deputy  (vicariu9)\ 
the  theatres  and  other  buildings  designed  for  public 
shows  were  placed  under  the  superintendence  of  a 
"  supervisor  of  amusements "  (tribunus  voluptatum). 
Thus  thoroughgoing  repairs  were  made,  not  at  the 
expense  of  other  edifices,  as  in  the  case  of  the  prede- 
cessors of  Theoderic,  but  with  brick  expressly  prepared 
in  the  great  old  brickyard  called  Portus  Licini. 
They  were  all  stamped  —  in  this  case  appropriately, 
we  must  acknowledge  —  with  the  inscription  — 

REGNANTE    D  •  N  •  THEODERICO   FELIX   ROMA 

I  have  never  made  or  witnessed  an  excavation  on 
the  site  of  any  of  the  great  buildings  of  Rome  without 
discovering  one  or  more  of  Theoderic's  bricks.  The 
style  of  masonry  which  prevailed  in  his  time  can  best 
be  examined  in  the  repairs  made  to  the  "  arcus  Caeli- 
montani,"  the  branch  aqueduct  supplying  the  imperial 
palace  in  the  Via  di  S.  Stefano  Rotondo.  The  sums 
destined  for  such  works  were  derived  from  local  taxa- 
tion. Maximian  of  Ravenna  states  in  his  annals  that  the 
two  hundred  pounds  of  gold  set  aside  for  the  restoration 
of  the  walls  of  the  City  and  of  the  imperial  residence 


THE   CITY  IN  THE   SIXTH  CENTURY  79 

were  collected  from  the  city  tax  on  wine  —  which  at 
this  day  remains  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  revenue  for 
the  municipal  treasury.  The  churches  of  St.  Pancras 
on  the  Via  Aurelia  and  of  S.  Martino  ai  Monti  date 
from  the  time  of  this  benevolent  ruler. 

In  describing  the  siege  of  Vitiges,  which  lasted  from 
February,  537,  to  March,  538,  and  the  intrenched 
camps  raised  by  the  Goths  around  the  beleaguered  City, 
Procopius  refers  to  the  cutting  of  the  aqueducts  in 
the  following  words  (De  Bello  Goth.  I.  19):  "The 
Goths  having  thus  surrounded  the  City,  broke  down 
the  aqueducts  to  cut  off  the  supply  of  water.  Rome 
has  fourteen  aqueducts  .  .  .  and  their  channels  are  so 
high  and  broad  that  a  horseman  could  easil}r  ride 
through  them."  This  statement  is  erroneous  in  two 
respects :  the  aqueducts  were  in  reality  not  fourteen 
but  eleven,  —  Appia,  Anio  Vetus,  Marcia,  Tepula,  Julia, 
Virgo,  Alsietina,  Claudia,  Anio  Novus,  Trajana,  Alex- 
audrina ;  and  their  channels  "  could  not  be  entered  even 
by  a  pygmy  riding  on  a  goat  or  a  ram."1 

Belisarius  walled  up  the  mouths  of  the  aqueducts, 
in  order  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  making  them  a 
means  of  entering  the  City.  The  consequences  of  the 
cutting  were  not  so  serious  as  to  cause  a  water  famine, 
because  there  were  enough  springs  within  the  walls  to 
meet  the  emergency  of  the  moment,  not  to  speak  of 

1  Fabretti,  De  aquis,  p.  145 :  ne  Pygmaei  quidem,  arietis,  capraeve 
dorso  insidentis,  quales  eos  describit  Plinius,  capaces  fuerunt. 


80  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

the  Tiber,  the  water  of  which  has  always  been  consid- 
ered potable  and  wholesome.  It  is  also  necessary  to 
observe  that,  after  the  removal  of  the  imperial  Court 
to  Constantinople,  the  water  supply  of  Rome  had  lost 
much  of  its  world-famous  purity  and  wholesomeness. 
Any  one  can  convince  himself  of  the  truth  of  this  state- 
ment by  examining  the  channel  of  the  Marcia,  the  purest 
and  best  of  Roman  waters,  at  the  Ponte  degli  Arci  at 
the  foot  of  Monte  Arcese,  near  Tivoli,  or  that  of  the 
Claudia,  which  in  purity  ranked  next  to  the  Marcia,1 
near  the  Colle  Monitola  between  Tivoli  and  Castel 
Madama.  The  following  section  of  the  channel,  which 
I  made  at  Monte  Arcese,  May  5,  1881,  will  indicate  the 
real  state  of  the  case  better  than  any  description 
(Fig.  15). 

The  channel  (specus)  measured  originally  six  and 
one -half  feet  (2.05  metres)  in  height,  that  is,  to  the 
base  of  the  vaulted  ceiling,  and  three  and  one-third 
feet  (1.01  metres)  in  breadth.  As  long  as  the  aque- 
duct was  well  taken  care  of  by  the  curatores  aquarum 
and  their  staff  of  subordinate  officers,  the  dimensions 
of  the  channel  and  its  capacity  did  not  perceptibly 
diminish.  There  are,  on  the  sides  and  the  bottom,  thin 
layers  of  alabastrine  purity  and  transparency,  which  may 
have  been  formed  in  the  golden  age  of  Roman  administra- 
tion; but  they  hardly  exceed  half  an  inch  in  thickness. 
The  deposits,  however,  formed  at  the  time  of  the  bar- 

1  Frontinus,  I.  13  :  qnae  bonitatis  proximae  est  Marciae. 


THE   CITY   IN  THE   SIXTH   CENTURY 


81 


harian  invasions  and  in  consequence  of  the  abandonment 
of  the  aqueducts,  are  fourteen  inches  thick,  the  free 
channel  being  thus  reduced  from  six  and  a  half  to  a 
little  more  than  four  feet 
(1.65  metres)  in  height,  and 
to  a  width  of  less  than  a 
foot.  These  deposits  are  of 
every  colour  and  quality,  con- 
taining carbonate  of  lime  of 
spongy  texture,  mud,  clay, 
and  a  conglomerate  of  gravel. 
Another  curious  instance  of 
the  neglect  of  the  aqueducts 
after  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
century  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
Vigna  di  S.  Croce  in  Gerusa- 
lemme,  as  you  enter  by  the 
first  gate  on  the  left  of  that 
church.  The  water  dripping 

.    .  FIG.  15.  —  Section  of  the  chan- 

through      the      joints      Ot      the     nel  of  the  Aqua  Marcia,  at  Monte 

stones,  of  which  the  channel    Arcese>  showiue  deP°sits  on  the 

bottom  and  sides. 

is  built,  was  so  saturated  with 

deposits  of  lime  that  the  whole  height  of  the  arcades 
was  covered  with  incrustations,  and  came  to  have  the 
appearance  of  a  great  rock  honeycombed  with  cavities. 
Although  the  inhabitants  of  Rome  were  not  imme- 
diately affected  by  a  water  famine,  in  other  respects 
the  cutting  off  of  the  water  supply  by  the  barbarians 


82  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

proved  disastrous  to  the  City  as  well  as  to  the  country 
around  it.  In  the  City  it  led  to  the  abandonment  of 
the  great  imperial  thermae,  which  King  Theoderic  had 
just  tried  to  put  into  repair.  The  same  fate  was 
shared  by  the  artificial  basins  called  stagna  or  euripi, 
and  by  the  1212  public  fountains  and  247  reservoirs 
which  had  adorned  and  supplied  the  City  in  earlier 
days.  The  higher  quarters  suffered  the  most,  because 
their  water  supply,  borne  many  miles  on  stone  or  brick 
arcades,  could  be  more  easily  stopped.  The  supply  of 
the  lower  quarters,  on  the  other  hand,  was  never 
diverted  for  any  great  length  of  time,  because  the 
channels  of  the  Virgo,  of  the  Appia,  and  of  the  Anio 
Vetus,  which  fed  the  Campus  Martius,  ran  mostly 
underground  and  could  be  repaired  without  difficulty. 
This  is  the  reason  why  the  more  salubrious  hills  were 
abandoned  toward  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  not  to 
be  inhabited  again  until  the  time  of  Sixtus  V.,  who 
in  1587  made  life  upon  them  possible  again  with  the 
building  of  his  Acquedotto  Felice. 

One  incident  of  the  Gothic  siege  of  537,  connected 
with  the  fate  of  the  aqueducts,  is  described  by  Proco- 
pius  as  follows  :  "  Between  the  Latin  and  the  Appian 
Ways  there  still  exist  two  aqueducts  (the  Claudian 
and  the  Marcian),  supported  by  massive  arches.  At 
the  fiftieth  furlong  from  Rome  (at  the  place  now  called 
the  Torre  Fiscale),  they  join  and  cross  each  other  in 
such  a  way  that  the  one  which  was  on  the  right  now 


THE   CITY  IN  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY  83 

diverges  to  the  left.  After  a  short  distance  they 
meet  and  cross  again,  and  each  follows  its  original 
course.  The  space  between  the  two  crossings  is  there- 
fore entirely  surrounded  by  aqueducts,  the  lower  arches 
of  which  were  filled  up  by  the  barbarians  with  stones  and 
mud,  so  as  to  form  a  regular  fortification,  within  which 
they  remained  encamped,  to  the  number  of  at  least  seven 
thousand,  in  order  to  prevent  any  kind  of  provisions  from 
entering  the  City.  .  .  .  With  this  as  a  base  of  opera- 
tions, the  Goths  occupied  themselves  with  despoiling  and 
ravaging  the  Campagna.  .  .  .  They  remained  there  a  long 
time,  and  were  only  driven  out  by  the  plague." l 

De  Rossi  has  collected  important  proofs  of  the  accu- 
racy of  this  portion  of  the  narrative  of  Procopius. 
Describing  the  sepulchral  crypt,  found  by  Fortunati 
in  1876,  at  the  fifth  mile-stone  of  the  Via  Latina,  on 
Prince  Torlonia's  farm  (Roma  Vecchia),  he  says  :  "  In 
this  very  quarter  of  the  suburbs  I  located  the  campus 
barbaricus,  where  the  Goths  intrenched  themselves  in  the 
sixth  century,  and  I  suspected  that  the  bodies,  which 
bore  traces  of  having  perished  by  a  violent  death,  and 
which  were  lying  very  near  the  surface  quite  close  to 
the  Torlonia  tomb,  were  those  of  this  warlike  horde.  In 
the  Torlonia  tomb  itself  we  found,  on  the  skull  of  one 
of  the  skeletons,  evident  traces  of  an  oblique  cut,  in- 
flicted by  a  sword  or  some  similar  weapon." 

"  In  1853,"  De  Rossi  continues,  "  by  the  side  of  the 

1  De  Bella  Goth.  II.  3. 


84  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

modern  road  to  Albano,  between  the  fourth  and  the 
fifth  mile-stone,  I  was  present  at  the  discovery  of 
tombs,  made  with  simple  marble  slabs,  and  of  a  sar- 
cophagus. .  .  .  The  corpses  had  been  enveloped  in 
rich  cloth,  of  which,  at  the  first  moment  of  uncover- 
ing, we  saw  traces  in  the  form  of  gold  and  purple 
threads.  .  .  .  Then  not  far  off,  just  beneath  the  sur- 
face, we  saw  a  series  of  coffins  made  of  stones  and 
tiles  collected  at  random,  filled  with  skeletons  of  men, 
the  loins  and  breasts  bound  with  broad  bands,  which 
looked  as  if  they  had  been  saturated  with  blood,  and 
these  we  thought  to  have  been  soldiers  killed  in  ac- 
tion. .  .  .  This  discovery  recalled  to  my  mind  an 
episode  in  the  Gothic  war  (as  described  by  Procopius) 
which  made  fearful  havoc  among  the  neighbouring 
villas.  In  the  records  of  Gregory  II.  mention  is  made 
of  a  '  Massa  Camustis  iuxta  campum  barbaricum  ex  corpore 
patrimonii  AppiaeS ' 

It  is  easy  to  picture  to  ourselves  what  damage  was 
done  to  this  once  fertile  and  smiling  part  of  the 
Campagna,  and  to  the  aqueducts  that  traversed  it, 
especially  to  the  Claudia,  the  most  conspicuous  of  them 
all.  Yet  it  is  but  just  to  observe  that  the  barbarians 
damaged  the  aqueducts  only  so  far  as  was  necessary  to 
stop  the  flow  of  the  water  ;  we  have  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  they  threw  down  great  arches  and  pilasters 
simply  for  the  pleasure  of  destruction  —  that  would 
have  been  mere  lost  labour.  These  wonderful  crea- 


THE   CITY   IN  TIl£  SIXTH  CENTURY  85 

tions  of  Roman  hydraulic  skill,  these  triumphal  arcades 
crossing  the  Campagna  in  every  direction  and  distrib- 
uting everywhere  fertility  and  health,  were  destroyed, 
as  were  so  many  other  monuments,  by  the  Romans 
themselves,  in  times  much  nearer  to  our  own  than  is 
ordinarily  supposed. 

We  have  reason  to  believe  that  in  1585,  when  the 
construction  of  the  Acquedotto  Felice  was  decreed  by 
Sixttis  V.,  the  series  of  arcades  of  the  Marcia  and  of 
the  Claudia  (Fig.  20),  both  seven  miles  long,  were  prac- 
tically intact.  Matteo  da  Castello,  first,  and,  after  his 
resignation,  Domenico  Fontana,  laid  hands  on  the  noble 
structures,  burning  their  travertine  blocks  into  lime, 
splitting  and  hammering  those  of  tufa  and  peperino  for 
use  in  the  new  aqueduct.  Whatever  remains  were  left 
standing  became  the  prey  of  local  land-owners,  especially 
of  the  trustees  of  the  hospital  of  S.  Giovanni,  in  whose 
archives  I  have  found  documents  concerning  the  sale  at 
public  auction  of  the  stone  arch,  over  which  the  Claudia 
spanned  the  Via  Latina  near  the  farmhouse  of  Roma 
Vecchia ;  and  again,  the  sale  of  four  piers  of  peperino  to 
Bartolomeo  Vitali,  of  two  to  the  brothers  Guidotti,  and 
so  on.1  Three  or  four  hundred  feet  of  the  channel  of 
the  same  aqueduct  were  destroyed  by  the  owner  of  the 
farm  of  the  Capannelle  in  1887  ;  the  Mediterranean  Rail- 
way Company,  which,  about  the  same  time,  built  the  new 
line  to  Segni,  is  responsible  for  other  damages. 

1  Lanciaili,  /  Comentarii  di  Frontino,  p.  149. 


86          DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

A  walk  from  the  Porta  Furba  (on  the  road  to  Frascati) 
to  the  Porta  Maggiore,  by  the  Vicolo  del  Mandrione, 
will  give  the  student  a  melancholy  appreciation  of  the 
importance  and  of  the  fate  of  the  Roman  aqueducts, 


FIG.  16.  —  The  remains  of  the  Claudian  aqueduct  at  the  Porta  Furba. 

which,  after  so  many  centuries  of  spoliation,  are  still 
among  the  most  impressive  remains  of  ancient  Rome 
(Fig.  16). 

Notwithstanding  the  ravages  of  the  Vandals  and  the 
desperate  straits  of  the  people  of  Rome  on  many  occa- 


THE  CITY  IN  THE   SIXTH   CENTURY  87 

sions  since  the  first  sack  of  the  Goths,  Procopius,  whom 
I  have  already  quoted  so  often,  speaks  of  a  number  of 
monuments  as  standing  uninjured  toward  the  middle 
of  the  sixth  century.  We  learn  from  him  that  the 
City  in  general,  and  the  Forum  especially,  retained  an 
imposing  array  of  bronze  and  marble  statues,  the  works 
of  Phidias  and  Lysippus ;  that  the  celebrated  Cow  of 
Myron  was  yet  to  be  seen  above  the  fountain  in  the 
Forum  of  Peace  ;  that  the  bronze  statue  of  Janus,  five 
cubits  high,  was  still  preserved  in  the  cella  of  his  four- 
faced  temple;  and  that  the  group  of  the  Three  Fates 
—  the  one,  probably,  which  Pliny  classifies  among  the 
earliest  works  of  the  kind  in  Rome  —  still  gave  the 
name  of  Tria  Fata  to  the  north  corner  of  the  Forum 
by  the  Senate-house. 

The  same  historian  describes  how  one  of  the  Gothic 
camps  had  been  established  in  the  Gaianum,  a  circus  or 
hippodrome  of  the  gardens  of  Doonitia,  and  how  the 
Greek  garrison  of  the  mole  of  Hadrian  hurled  upon  its 
assailants  many  statues  which  even  to  that  time  had  orna- 
mented this  fortified  mausoleum.  "  Of  all  the  people  in 
the  world,"  he  concludes  (IV.  22),  "  the  Romans  love 
their  City  and  its  historical  monuments  the  best. 
Although  fallen  a  prey  to  barbarian  invaders  so  many 
times,  they  have  succeeded  in  keeping  up  many  of  their 
great  buildings,  and  preserving  relics  connected  with  the 
origin  and  foundation  of  their  City.  Among  these  last 
I  can  mention  a  large  canoe  hollowed  out  of  the  trunk 


88  DESTRUCTION   OF  ANCIENT   ROME 

of  a  tree,  which  they  preserve  in  the  arsenal  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Tiber,  as  the  one  used  by  Aeneas  in 
reaching  the  Latin  shore." 

In  the  year  590,  which  was  that  of  the  election  of 
Pope  Gregory  the  Great  (September  3),  Rome  seems 
to  have  reached  the  extremity  of  misfortune.  An 
inundation  of  the  Tiber,  at  the  end  of  the  previous 
year,  had  caused  the  ruin  of  some  temples  and  monu- 
ments and  of  innumerable  private  dwellings,  and  the 
flood  was,  as  usual,  followed  by  famine  and  pestilence. 
The  beautiful  legend  of  the  angel  seen  above  the 
mausoleum  of  Hadrian  in  the  act  of  sheathing  his 
sword,  while  Gregory  at  the  head  of  the  panic-stricken 
population  was  proceeding  in  pilgrimage  to  St.  Peter's 
(a  memorial  of  the  vision  still  remains  in  the  bronze 
figure  on  the  top  of  the  Castel  S.  Angelo),  marks 
really  the  first  change  for  the  better  in  the  fortunes 
of  Rome.  By  Rome  I  mean  the  City  itself  protected 
by  the  walls  of  Aurelian  and  Honorius  ;  for  the  sur- 
rounding district  was  incessantly  devastated  by  the 
Lombards  of  Agilulf  and  Ariulf,  and  its  inhabitants 
murdered  or  driven  away. 


CHAPTER   VIII 
BURIAL  PLACES   WITHIX    AND   WITHOUT   THE   WALLS 

FROM  a  remote  period,  burial  within  the  city  limits 
was  prohibited  by  Roman  law.  Yet  many  graves  have 
been  found  within  the  walls,  and  Nibby  has  suggested 
that  the  first  infringement  of  the  early  enactment,  the 
first  interments  intra  muros,  must  be  regarded  as  a 
consequence  of  the  siege  of  Vitiges. 

Earlier  instances  of  the  practice,  however,  are  not 
lacking.  Tombs  dating  from  the  time  of  Theoderic 
(493-526  A.D.)  have  been  found  in  the  Praetorian 
camp,  in  the  gardens  of  Sallust,  and  in  the  graveyard 
of  S.  Giacomo  del  Colosseo.  Those  of  the  Praetorian 
camp  were  seen  by  Lupi,  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
last  century,  within  the  cells  which  line  the  north  side 
of  the  quadrangle ;  those  of  the  gardens  of  Sallust 
were  seen  by  De  Rossi,  in  1869,  in  that  part  of  the 
Vigna  Barberini-Spithoever  which  is  now  crossed  by 
the  Via  Flavia  and  the  Via  Aureliana. 

The  exploration  of  the  graveyard  by  the  Coliseum  be- 
gan in  the  spring  of  1895,  and  its  results  are  described 
at  length  in  the  Bullettino  Comunale  of  the  same  year. 
There  were  two  or  three  layers  of  tombs,  —  the  oldest, 


90  DESTRUCTION   OF   ANCIENT   ROME 

at  the  same  level  with  the  amphitheatre,  dating  from 
the  time  of  Theoderic,  the  latest  dating  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventh  century.  One  of  the  later  tombs, 
discovered  opposite  the  thirty-third  arcade,  is  now 
exhibited  in  the  Museo  Municipale  on  the  Caelian  Hill. 
The  inscription  gives  the  names  of  a  Fortunatus  and 
Lucia  and  of  their  little  daughter  Gemmula,  and  ends 
with  the  warning,  "  Whoever  shall  violate  or  injure 
this  tomb,  may  he  share  the  fate  of  Judas ! "  No 
wonder :  the  grave  stood  right  in  the  middle  of  a 
thoroughfare,  which,  even  in  those  days,  must  have 
been  crowded. 

The  two  precious  basins,  one  of  green  and  one  of 
reddish  basalt,  removed  toward  the  end  of  the  last 
century  from  the  Baths  of  Caracalla  to  the  Cortile 
di  Belvedere  of  the  Vatican  Museum,  had  both  been 
used  for  coffins.  A  sepulchral  vault  containing  many 
hundred  bodies  was  discovered  in  the  Baths  of  Con- 
stantine ; 1  another,  in  the  remains  of  other  baths  in 
the  Vigna  Grimani  (Barberini).2  In  the  course  of 
time  each  of  the  Roman  churches  —  and  there  were 
several  hundred  of  them  —  came  to  possess  a  local 
graveyard.  We  cannot  excavate  anywhere  in  Rome 
without  coming  across  one  of  them.  I  have  seen,  and 
in  several  instances  have  myself  explored,  cemeteries 
belonging  to  the  church  of  S.  Maria  ad  Martyres  (the 
Pantheon);  of  S.  Marcello,  of  S.  Nicola  in  Calcarario, 

1  Vacca,  Mem.  112.  2  Bartoli,  Mem.  31. 


BURIAL   PLACES  91 

of  S.  Maria  in  Campitelli,  of  S.  Sebastiano  in  Pallara, 
of  S.  Ciriaco  cle  Camilliano,  of  S.  Maria  Nuova,  and 
others.  The  largest  of  all,  attached  to  the  hospital  of 
S.  Maria  delle  Grazie,  occupied  one  half  of  the  Basilica 
Julia,  the  layer  of  human  remains  being  from  six  to 
eight  feet  in  thickness. 

The  Catacombs,  as  we  have  seen,  were  abandoned  in 
410 ;  but  what  was  the  fate  of  the  pagan  tombs  and 
mausoleums  which  lined  the  highroads  in  every  direction 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  City  ?  I  wish  that  I  could 
summarise  here  the  information  given  on  this  subject 
by  that  indefatigable  explorer  of  Roman  tombs,  Fran- 
cesco Ficoroni,  in  his  work,  La  Bolla  d'oro  dei  fanciulli 
romani,  Part  II.  j1  as  it  is  I  can  only  mention  a  few 
points. 

The  family  vaults,  Ficoroni  remarks,  were  generally 
composed  of  a  room  or  enclosed  place  on  a  level  with 
the  road,  where  the  funeral  banquets  and  the  anniver- 
sary gatherings  took  place,  and  of  a  crypt  where  the 
ashes  were  kept  in  urns,  or  the  bodies  laid  to  rest  in 
richly  carved  marble  sarcophagi.  The  former,  standing 
above  ground,  and  within  easy  reach  of  the  passer-by, 
must  have  been  stripped  of  their  valuable  contents  at 
a  very  early  period,  perhaps  even  before  the  first  inroad 
of  Alaric.  When  there  was  nothing  else  of  value  left, 
the  Romans  attacked  the  very  walls  of  which  the 
tombs  were  built,  the  porticoes,  colonnades,  and  roofs, 

1  Dicersita  dei  mausolei  romani,  loro  diroccamento,  etc. 


92  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

for  the  sake  of  the  marble,  which  they  wanted  for  their 
lime-kilns.  This  process  of  burning  the  marbles  of 
sepulchral  monuments  for  lime  became  so  common  that 
the  emperors  had  to  enact  capital  punishment  as  a 
penalty  against  the  offenders.  In  349,  sixty-one  years 
before  Alaric's  invasion,  the  Emperor  Constans  substi- 
tuted a  heavy  fine  for  capital  punishment.1 

These  imperial  provisions  may  have  saved  from  de- 
struction for  a  few  years  longer  the  mausoleums  more 
exposed  to  view ;  but  those  standing  back  from  the 
highroads,  screened  by  trees  or  by  the  undulations  of 
the  ground,  probably  disappeared  faster  than  ever.  I 
speak,  of  course,  of  the  general  rule,  because  among 
the  three  or  four  hundred  thousand  tombs  which  en- 
circled the  City,  there  were,  to  be  sure,  some  remark- 
able exceptions.  A  few  of  them,  conspicuous  for  their 
size  and  for  their  wealth  in  marble  and  travertine,  have 
survived  to  the  present  day,  as  the  mausoleums  of  Cae- 
cilia  Metella  and  of  Lucilius  Paetus,  and  the  tombs  of 
Vibius  Marianus  (Fig.  17)  and  of  Vergilius  Eurysaces. 

The  underground  rooms,  or  hypogaea,  suffered  less 
damage.  Search  was  made,  either  by  the  degenerate 
Romans  or  by  the  barbarians,  for  the  valuable  objects 
buried  with  the  corpse,  or  placed  as  a  memento  in 
the  cinerary  urns,  such  as  ear-rings,  finger-rings,  and 
brooches  (fibulae)  ;  but  the  urns  themselves,  the  beauti- 

1  See  his  constitution  to  Limenius  in  the  Codex  Theotlosianus,  X.  Tit. 
17,  de  sepulchris  violatis. 


BURIAL  PLACES 


93 


ful  sarcophagi,  the  glass  and  terra  eotta  vessels  peculiar 
to  columbaria,  and  even  the  bronze  lamps  and  candela- 
bras,  were  often  left  undisturbed.  This  is  the  reason 
why  the  excavation  of  our  ancient  cemeteries  is  rich  in 
rinds,  as  I  can  testify  from  personal  observation. 


FIG.  17. — Tomb  of  P.  Vibius  Marianus,  so-called  "Tomb  of  Nero,"  on  the 
Via  Clodia,  4$  miles  north  of  Rome. 

My  first  experience  in  the  exploration  of  tombs  dates 
from  1868,  when  those  lining  the  Via  Severiana,  between 
Ostia  and  Castel  Fusano,  were  first  opened  by  the  elder 
Visconti  (Fig.  18).  They  yielded  a  great  quantity  of 
glassware  and  exquisite  Arezzo  cups,  besides  a  few  ob- 
jects in  gold  and  enamel.  Next  in  date  and  impor- 
tance came  the  exploration  of  the  columbaria  of  the 


94  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

Statilian  family,  in  that  portion  of  the  Esquiline  ceme- 
tery which  extends  from  the  so-called  Minerva  Medica 
to  the  Porta  Maggiore  (1875).  In  the  space  of  a  few 
weeks,  and  within  an  area  of  a  few  thousand  square 
feet,  we  recovered  566  inscriptions,  and  many  hundred 


FIG.  18.  —  Columbarium  on  the  Via  Severiana,  near  Ostia,  opened  in  1868. 

objects  in  terra  cotta,   glass,   bone,   ivory,  bronze,    gold, 
silver,  and  precious  marbles. 

Ficoroni  has  offered  an  ingenious  suggestion  in  re- 
gard to  the  engraved  gems  or  cameos  which  are  found 
loose  in  the  earth  in  great  numbers  within  a  circuit 
of  three  or  four  miles  from  the  walls.  After  stating 
that  out  of  ninety-two  sepulchral  chambers,  which  he 


BURIAL  PLACES  95 

had  excavated  in  the  Vigna  Moroni  by  the  Porta  S. 
Sebastiano,  between  1705  and  1709,  only  one  had  not 
been  searched  before,  he  says :  "  I  found  in  the  un- 
opened urns,  among  the  charred  bones,  a  few  neck- 
laces, ear-rings,  and  finger-rings,  and  a  piece  of  jewelry 
with  sapphires.  My  workmen,  however,  in  sifting  the 
earth  which  filled  up  or  covered  these  columbaria,  and 
also  the  open  passages  between  them,  found  a  great 
many  cameos  and  intaglios  in  precious  stones,  broken 
or  indented  around  the  edge.  These  stones  are  con- 
stantly found  in  the  vineyards  and  orchards  which  ex- 
tend over  the  old  cemeteries ;  and  as  they  still  show 
traces  of  the  hard  glue,  by  means  of  which  they  were 
fastened  to  their  sockets,  it  seems  to  me  that  they 
must  have  been  taken  out  and  thrown  away  as  a  use- 
less encumbrance  by  those  who  were  seeking  for  gold 
alone.  What  possible  value  could  engraved  stones  rep- 
resent in  the  eyes  of  the  Romans  of  the  fifth  century, 
or  of  their  invaders?" 

This  general  rifling  of  burial  crypts  is  the  more  sur- 
prising if  we  recall  the  precautions  taken  in  many 
cases  to  conceal  the  entrances  to  them.  After  the 
last  occupant  had  been  laid  to  rest,  and  the  sarcophagi 
or  urns  sealed  with  brass  clamps  and  molten  lead,  the 
door  was  walled  up  with  stones  or  blocks  of  marble, 
resembling  in  colour  and  shape  those  with  which  the 
rest  of  the  mausoleum  was  covered ;  and  every  trace 
of  an  entrance  was  then  made  to  disappear.  This  is 


96  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

the  reason  why  some  crypts,  rich  in  funereal  decora- 
tion, have  escaped  molestation  until  a  comparatively 
recent  period.  The  secret  passage  leading  to  the  tomb 
of  Caecilia  Metella  was  discovered  by  accident,  in  the 
time  of  Paul  III.  (1534-1550),  by  a  stone-cutter  en- 
gaged in  wrenching  away  the  blocks  of  travertine 
from  the  square  foundation.  The  beautiful  sarcopha- 
gus found  in  the  inner  chamber  is  still  to  be  seen  in 
the  palace  of  that  Pope.  A  similar  discovery,  under 
Alexander  VII.  (1655-1667),  took  place  also  in  con- 
nexion with  the  pyramid  of  C.  Cestius,  the  entrance 
to  which  was  so  artfully  disguised  that  it  could  be 
located  only  by  the  hollow  sound  of  the  stones  with 
which  it  had  been  blocked.  The  grave-robbers,  how- 
ever, have  avoided  the  difficulty,  in  nine  cases  out  of 
ten,  by  boring  a  hole  through  the  core  of  the  monu- 
ment toward  its  centre. 

Most  of  the  sepulchral  chambers  discovered  in  my 
time  had  been  plundered  in  this  way.  The  best  in- 
stance can  be  seen  in  the  beautiful  crypt  at  the  second 
mile-stone  of  the  Via  Latina,  called  "  Sepolcro  degli 
stucchi,"  from  the  well-preserved  bas-reliefs  in  plaster, 
representing  nymphs  and  nereids  driving  sea-monsters, 
which  ornament  its  vaulted  ceiling.  The  door  leading 
into  this  chamber  was  found  to  be  undisturbed ;  but  a 
hole  could  be  seen  in  the  ceiling,  hardly  two  feet  in 
diameter,  by  means  of  which  the  plunderers  had  effected 
their  descent,  and  carried  away  the  spoils  (Fig.  19).  The 


BURIAL  PLACES 


97 


marble  sarcophagi  had  been  carefully  searched,  some  by 
the  removal  of  the  lids,  found  lying  in  pieces  on  the  floor, 
some  by  means  of  a  hole  made  in  the  side  of  the  coffin. 


FIG.  19.  —  The  Sepolcro  degli  Stucchi,  showing  the  hole  made  by  plunderers  in 
the  vaulted  ceiling. 


98  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

I  may  close  this  chapter  by  reminding  the  reader 
that  from  the  time  of  Boniface  VIII.,  who  instituted 
the  Giubileo  in  1300,  to  the  end  of  the  last  century, 
the  highroads  followed  by  the  pilgrims  on  the  way 
to  Rome  were  repaired  every  twenty-fifth  year,  at  the 
expense  of  the  tombs  lining  the  road  on  either  side. 
The  information  which  I  have  collected  on  this  point 
will  be  published  in  Vols.  III.  and  IV.  of  my  Storia 
degli  Scavi  di  Roma. 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE   DEVASTATION   AND    DESERTIOX    OF  THE 
CAMPAGXA 

THE  final  desolation  of  the  Campagna,  with  its  con- 
comitant, the  plague  of  malaria,  dates  from  the  time  of 
Gregory  the  Great  (590-604).  Villas  and  farmhouses 
were  set  fire  to,  olive  orchards  and  vineyards  uprooted, 
the  supply  of  water  cut  off;  all  sources  of  life  and 
thrift  were  drained,  and  the  whole  plain  from  the 
Apennines  to  the  sea  was  turned  into  an  unhealthful 
and  dangerous  wilderness. 

Whenever  a  Roman  villa  has  been  excavated  in  these 
last  years,  I  have  paid  special  attention  to  the  strati- 
fication of  its  ruins,  as  the  only  means  of  finding  out 
what  the  cause  of  its  destruction  was.  There  are,  as 
a  general  rule,  three  strata.  The  uppermost  consists 
of  vegetable  soil,  produced  by  the  disintegration  of  the 
ruins  themselves,  by  the  decomposition  of  the  trees, 
bushes,  and  grass,  and  by  earth  deposited  by  atmos- 
pheric agencies.  The  middle  stratum  is  made  up  of 
building  materials,  such  as  brick,  blocks  of  tufa,  tufa 
prisms  for  reticulate  work,  plaster,  cement,  and  frag- 
ments of  marble  veneering.  The  lowest,  lying  directly 

101 


102  DESTRUCTION   OF   ANCIENT   ROME 

over  the  marble  or  mosaic  floor,  is  composed  almost 
exclusively  of  roof  tiles  and  roofing  materials.  From 
this  relation  of  parts  we  infer  that,  whether  the  villas 
perished  by  fire,  or  by  natural  decay  and  abandonment, 
the  first  part  to  fall  in  was  the  roof,  the  remains  of 
which,  for  that  reason,  lie  upon  the  pavements.  The 
walls  must  have  fallen  decades,  if  not  centuries,  later, 
because  there  is  always  a  thin  layer  of  vegetable  soil 
between  the  remains  of  the  roof  and  those  of  the  walls. 

The  walls  have  generally  fallen  toward  the  same  point 
of  the  compass,  as  if  thrown  down  by  an  earthquake  ; 
and  a  similar  observation  has  been  made  in  regard  to 
the  columns  of  the  peristyles.  One  thing  is  certain  : 
that  when  the  roofs  fell,  whether  by  natural  decay  or 
by  the  violence  of  man,  the  marble  statues  which 
adorned  the  villa,  its  terraces,  its  nymphaea,  and  its 
colonnades  were  still  in  situ,  and  in  some  cases  were 
still  standing  on  their  pedestals.  The  herms  at  the 
crossings  of  the  garden  avenues,  the  exquisite  carved 
fountains,  the  portrait-busts  of  the  atria,  remained 
likewise  uninjured,  and  so  they  would  have  remained 
to  the  present  day  had  it  not  been  for  the  lime-burners 
of  the  early  Renaissance,  and  for  the  contractors  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  highroads,  who  in  this  respect 
have  caused  incalculable  damage ;  more  works  of  art 
have  been  destroyed  in  the  last  five  centuries  than  in 
all  the  centuries  of  barbarian  plundering. 

For  the  same  reason,  the  few  villas  which,  on  account 


DESERTION  OF  THE   CAMPAGXA  103 

of  their  secluded  location  and  safe  distance  from  the 
highroads,  escaped  the  mediaeval  and  Renaissance  plun- 
derers, prove  to  be  a  perfect  mine  of  statuary.  I  have 
collected  some  remarkable  documents  on  this  point 
which  will  be  published  later.  Let  me  quote  two  in- 
stances, one  from  the  Villa  Quintiliorum  on  the  Appian 
Way,  the  other  from  the  Villa  Voconiorum  near  Marino, 
the  ancient  Castrimoenium. 

The  Villa  Quintiliorum,  the  picturesque  remains  of 
which  are  now  called  S.  Maria  Nova,  from  the  church 
and  monastery  of  that  name,  which  owned  them  in  past 
ages,  has  been  excavated  at  least  eight  times,  with 
such  good  results  that  a  section  of  the  farm  is  actu- 
ally called  Statuario,  "  mine  of  statuary."  The  oldest 
search  dates  from  the  pontificate  of  Innocent  VIII., 
more  precisely,  from  April  16,  1485.  It  led  to  the 
discovery  of  the  body  of  the  so-called  Tulliola,  still  re- 
taining the  rosy  colour  of  the  flesh  and  lifelike  appear- 
ance.1 Several  inscriptions,  sarcophagi,  and  sepulchral 
monuments  came  to  light  on  the  same  occasion.  The 
tomb  of  the  Apusii  was  found  in  the  following  century. 
Winckelmann,  who  was  present  at  the  excavations  of 
1762  made  by  Cardinal  Alessandro  Albani,  describes  the 
finding  of  a  beautiful  marble  basin,  thirty-five  palms  in 
circumference,  with  the  Labours  of  Hercules  in  alto-re- 
lievo ;  of  a  portico,  of  the  areostyle  type,  with  columns 
of  the  Ionic  order,  and  of  a  wall  covered  with  frescoes. 

1  See  Pagan  and  Christian  Home,  p.  295. 


104  DESTRUCTION   OF   ANCIENT   ROME 

Here  also,  in  1780,  Giovanni  Volpato  discovered  several 
columns  of  bigio  and  breccia  corallina,  thirteen  feet 
high;  the  colossal  head  of  Julia  Domna,  the  Ganymede, 
and  the  "Antiochia,"  now  in  the  Vatican  Museum;  be- 
sides the  statue  of  a  young  Caesar,  which  was  bought 
by  Pacetti. 

About  the  same  year  an  Englishman  and  a  Scotchman, 
Thomas  Jenkins  and  Gavin  Hamilton,  tried  their  luck  in 
the  section  of  the  same  villa  called  Roma  Vecchia.  They 
found  a  bust  of  Lucius  Verus,  another  of  Diocletian, 
a  third  and  a  fourth  of  two  Romans,  perhaps  Decem- 
viri, with  the  names  engraved  on  the  plinth ;  a  life- 
size  statue  of  Euterpe,  two  statuettes  of  youths  playing 
with  birds,  and  scenic  masks ;  two  sarcophagi,  and 
several  fragments  of  less  importance.  The  best  por- 
tion of  these  marbles  was  purchased  by  Pius  VI.  for 
the  Vatican  Museum,  who  at  the  same  time  ordered 
fresh  excavations  to  be  made  on  his  own  account. 
These  excavations  lasted  from  May  11,  1789,  to  May 
15,  1792,  and  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  following 
items :  Eleven  statuettes  belonging  to  the  ornamenta- 
tion of  one  or  more  fountains ;  eight  life-size  statues ; 
nine  heads  and  busts ;  two  double  herms ;  two  sarcoph- 
agi ;  a  mosaic  pavement ;  several  columns,  pedestals, 
inscriptions,  and  other  objects  of  interest.  Carlo  Tor- 
Ionia  purchased  the  grounds  at  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century,  and  undertook  other  excavations  about 
1828-1829,  the  magnificent  results  of  which  are  de- 


DESERTION  OF  THE   CAMPAGNA  105 

scribed  by  Nibly1  and  by  Visconti  in  the  catalogue  of 
the  Museo  Torloma.  , 

The  last  search,  made  by  Giovanni  Battista  Guidi, 
about  1855,  was  also  attended  with  considerable  suc- 
cess. He  found  among  other  interesting  things  a  cas- 
tellum  aquae,  with  its  organ-like  range  of  water-pipes, 
inscribed  with  the  names  of  the  patricians  who  owned 
property  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  who  drew  their 
supply  of  water  from  this  reservoir  of  the  Villa  Quintil- 
iorum.  Having  myself  surveyed  the  site  of  the  villa 
on  more  than  one  occasion,  I  have  persuaded  myself 
that  the  mine  is  by  no  means  exhausted. 

The  Villa  Voconiorum  was  excavated  at  my  sugges- 
tion by  Signer  Luigi  Boccanera  in  1883-1884.  Its 
beautiful  remains  have  since  been  destroyed,  much 
against  our  laws,  by  a  local  owner,  and  its  area  put 
under  cultivation.  The  most  interesting  particular 
gathered  from  these  excavations  is  that  when  the  stat- 
ues fell,  or  were  thrown  from  their  pedestals,  the  floor 
of  the  villa  was  already  covered  with  over  three  feet 
of  debris.  The  statues  therefore  were  still  standing 
after  the  first  barbarian  invasions.  Once  for  all,  then, 
we  may  absolve  the  barbarians  from  the  blame  of  a 
useless  destruction  or  mutilation  of  classic  statuary.2 

1  Analisi,  Vol.  III.  p.  726. 

2  Gavin  Hamilton  excavated,  in  or  about  1780,  a  round  temple  at  the 
eighth  mile-stone  of  the  Appian  Way,  with  as  many  statues  as  there  were 
intercolumniations,  each  lying  a  few  inches  only  from  its  original  loca- 
tion.    See  Riccy,  Pago  Lemonio,  p.  122,  n.  1, 


CHAPTER   X 
THE    MONUMENTS    IN    THE    SEVENTH    CENTURY 

THE  early  years  of  the  seventh  century  were  marked 
by  three  events  of  special  significance  for  the  history 
of  the  monuments.  These  are,  the  erection  of  the  col- 
umn of  Phocas,  the  transformation  of  the  Pantheon 
into  a  church,  and  the  inauguration  of  the  practice  of 
transferring  relics  of  martyrs  from  the  Catacombs  to 
sanctuaries  within  the  walls. 

Phocas,  the  murderer  of  the  Emperor  Mauritius,  had 
seized  the  throne  of  the  East  in  November,  602.  The 
portraits  of  this  "base  and  cowardly  assassin"  and 
of  his  wife  Leontia  were  received  in  Rome  with  the 
customary  honours  by  the  clergy  and  the  Senate  assem- 
bled in  the  Basilica  Julii  at  the  Lateran,  and  after- 
ward exhibited  to  the  public  in  the  church  of  S. 
Cesario  in  Palatio.1  The  Romans  went  even  a  step 
farther  in  their  show  of  servility :  they  raised  an  hon- 
orary column,  inscribed,  Phocae  dementissimo  principi, 
in  the  middle  of  the  Forum,  which  still  remained  free 
from  the  ruins  that  were  later  to  bury  and  con- 
ceal it.  This  is  the  last  monument  erected  in  that 

1  The  remains  of  this  church  are  described  in  Ruins  and  Excavations, 
p.  169. 

106 


FIG.  21.  —  The  column  of  Phocas  in  the  Forum.    At  the  right,  further  back, 
the  remaius  of  the  temple  of  Saturn. 


THE  MONUMENTS  IN  THE   SEVENTH  CENTURY      109 

historical  place.  It  marks  the  end  of  the  ancient 
period  and  the  beginning  of  the  Middle  Ages.  "Of 
the  three  monumental  columns  still  extant  at  Rome," 
Dyer  well  remarks,  "two  were  erected  to  the  best 
emperors  (Trajan  and  Marcus  Aurelius),  one  to  the 
worst  and  basest ;  their  merits  are  aptly  typified  by 
the  style  of  their  monuments."1 

From  the  inscription  on  the  pedestal  of  the  column 
of  Phocas  (discovered  February  23,  1813)  we  learn 
that  the  pillar  was  surmounted  by  a  statue  in  gilt 
bronze.  Now  such  a  statue  could  not  have  been  mod- 
elled and  cast  in  Rome  in  608  A.D.  (the  column  was 
dedicated  on  August  1  of  that  year).  It  must  have 
been  an  old  statue,  cast  centuries  before,  of  which,  I 
am  inclined  to  believe,  not  even  the  head  was  changed 
for  the  occasion.  The  column  is  forty-five  feet  high, 
and  leans  considerably  toward  the  southeast.  The  style 
of  the  shaft  and  capital  is  certainly  better  than  that  pre- 
vailing in  608  A.D.  ;  therefore,  either  the  column  was 
removed  bodily  from  a  classic  edifice,  or  else  the  Romans 
and  their  exarch  Zmaragdus  dedicated  to  Phocas  a  monu- 
ment which,  up  to  his  time,  had  borne  another  name. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Forum  of  Trajan  also 
was  at  this  time  free  from  any  accumulation  of  rubbish. 
Venantius  Fortunatus,  a  contemporary  of  Gregory,  speaks 
of  the  custom  of  poets  reciting  in  that  place  as  still 
flourishing  in  his  day  (Carm.  III.  23). 

1  History  of  the  City  of  Home,  p.  363. 


110  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

Boniface  IV.,  elected  bishop  of  Rome  in  the  same 
year  in  which  the  column  of  Phocas  was  dedicated, 
obtained  from  that  Emperor  the  permission  to  dedi- 
cate the  Pantheon  of  Agrippa  to  the  Virgin  Mary  and 
all  Christian  martyrs.  This  concession  marks  an  ex- 
ceedingly important  moment  in  the  history  of  the 
destruction  and  transformation  of  ancient  Rome,  be- 
cause, as  I  have  previously  remarked,  up  to  the 
beginning  of  the  seventh  century  the  Christians  had 
abstained  from  worshipping  in  places  where  divine 
honours  had  been  paid  to  pagan  deities.  No  classic 
temple,  no  shrine,  —  only  civic  buildings  had  thus 
far  been  used  for  churches ;  but  about  this  time  all 
such  scruples  disappeared.  To  speak  only  of  the  edi- 
fices lining  the  Sacra  Via  and  the  Forum,  we  now  find 
the  Senate-house  dedicated  to  St.  Hadrian,  the  inner 
hall  of  the  Augusteum  to  S.  Maria  Antiqua,  the  tem- 
ple of  Antoninus  and  Faustina  to  St.  Lawrence,  that  of 
Janus  to  St.  Dionysius,  that  of  Saturn  to  the  Saviour. 
The  Heroon  of  Romulus,  son  of  Maxentius,  becomes 
the  vestibule  of  the  church  of  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damia- 
nus ;  a  chapel  to  St.  Peter  is  raised  in  the  vestibule 
of  the  temple  of  Venus  and  Rome  ;  another  to  S.  Mar- 
tina in  the  Secretarium  Senatus;  a  third  to  SS.  Sergius 
and  Bacchus,  near  the  steps  of  the  temple  of  Concord ; 
and  a  fourth  to  an  unknown  saint  in  the  Basilica  of 
Constantino.1 

1  Cf.  Pagan  and  Christian  Home,  p.  162. 


THE  MONUMENTS  IN  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY      111 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  the  Pan- 
theon was  submitted  to  any  alteration  in  the  process 
of  transformation  into  a  church.  Were  the  colossal 
portrait  statues  of  Augustus  and  Agrippa  still  stand- 
ing, in  the  year  608,  in  their  niches  under  the  portico, 
or  those  of  the  ancestral  gods  of  the  Julian  gens  in 
their  shrines  under  the  dome?  Were  the  great  rosettes 
of  gilt  bronze  still  fixed  in  the  coffers  of  the  dome 
itself,  and  the  bronze  bas-reliefs  still  ornamenting  the 
pediment  of  the  pronaos?  It  is  difficult  to  give  a 
satisfactory  answer  to  these  queries.  I  incline  to  the 
view  that  when  the  Pantheon  was  placed  under  the 
protection  of  the  Queen  of  Martyrs,  it  was  already 
reduced  to  the  present  state,  or  rather  to  the  state  in 
which  it  was  before  the  spoliations  of  Constans  II. 
in  663,  of  Urban  VIII.  in  1625,  and  of  Benedict  XIV. 
in  1747. l  In  the  lapse  of  time  between  the  closing 
of  temples  and  the  abandonment  of  the  public  baths, 
and  the  reign  of  Phocas,  the  statues  of  the  gods  and 
heroes  must  have  been  removed  or  thrown  off  from 
their  pedestals,2  and  the  rosettes  of  the  dome  probably 

1  Constans  II.  stole  the  tiles  of  gilded  bronze  which  covered  the 
roof  of  the  pronaos  and  the  dome  ;   Urban  VIII.  melted  into  cannon 
410,778  pounds  of  metal  from  the  trusses  of  the  prouaos ;  and  Bene- 
dict XIV.  destroyed  the  marble  veneering  of  the  attic  story. 

2  For  the  fate  of  the  three  Caryatides  by  Diogenes  the  Athenian, 
formerly  in  the  Paganica  and  Giustiniani  palaces,   supposed  to  have 
formed  a  part  of  the  decoration  of  the  attic,  see  Notizie  degli  scavi, 
1881,  pp.  265-267  ;  Emil  Braun,  Bull.  Inst.,  1853,  p.  36. 


112  DESTEUCTION  OF   ANCIENT  ROME 

had  fallen,  one  by  one,  through  the  disintegration  of 
the  masonry  of  the  coffers.  The  bas-reliefs  of  the 
pediment  had  perhaps  escaped  spoliation.  It  seems 
that  when  the  Piazza  della  Rotonda  was  first  exca- 
vated and  paved  by  Pope  Eugenius  IV.  (1431-1439), 
a  head,  possibly  of  Agrippa,  the  leg  of  a  horse,  and 
the  wheel  of  a  chariot,  all  cast  in  bronze,  were  found 
at  the  foot  of  the  steps.  These  fragments  may  have 
fallen  from  the  pediment.  No  mention  is  made  of 
marble  statues,  except  of  a  head  attributed  to  Cybele, 
which  Camillo  Fanucci  claims  to  have  seen  lying  on 
the  floor  near  the  high  altar  in  the  year  1600. l 

Another  clew  as  to  the  state  of  the  Pantheon,  when 
taken  possession  of  by  the  Church,  is  given  by  the 
clumsy  restorations  made  by  Boniface  IV.  (610  A.D.), 
by  Vitalianus  (663),  and  Gregory  III.  (735),  with 
materials  taken  from  other  edifices,  such  as  the  marble 
slab  containing  the  honorary  inscription  of  Lucius 
Albums,  removed  from  the  Forum  of  Augustus 
(<7.  /.  L.  I.  285),  the  beautiful  frieze  from  the 
temple  of  Isis  (illustrated  by  Visconti  in  Bull.  Com. 
Vol.  IV.,  1876,  p.  92),  and  other  such  spoils.  Even 
more  important  is  the  fact  that  some  of  these  spoils 
belonged  to  the  Pantheon  itself,  as  the  two  beautiful 
friezes,  with  festoons  and  candelabras  and  sacred  im- 
plements, removed  from  the  sides  of  the  great  door, 
and  the  doorpost  taken  from  one  of  the  side  entrances. 

1  Camillo  Fanucci,  Trattato  di  tittte  V  opere  pie,  etc.,  c.  xxxvi. 


THE   MONUMENTS   IN  THE   SEVENTH  CENTURY      115 

These  three  pieces  had  been  used  in  the  restoration 
of  the  steps  leading  from  the  square  in  front  of  the 
Pantheon  to  the  pronaos  (Fig.  22),  and  were  found 
between  December,  1874,  and  September,  1875. 

The  designation  of  S.  Maria  ad  Martyres,  given  to 
the  Pantheon  by  Boniface  IV.,  recalls  an  interesting 
fact.  According  to  the  Liber  Pontificdlis,  this  name 
was  given  to  the  newly  consecrated  church  on  account 
of  twenty-eight  cartloads  of  sacred  bones  which  had 
been  removed  from  the  Catacombs  and  placed  in  a 
basin  of  porphyry  under  the  high  altar.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  an  important  change.  .-X"- 

I  have  stated  above  that  burial  in  the  Catacombs 
was  given  up  in  410,  the  year  of  the  storming  of 
Rome  by  Alaric,  and  that  great  damage  was  done  to 
them  in  537,  during  the  siege  of  Vitiges.  As  the 
country  around  Rome  became  more  and  more  insecure 
and  unhealthy,  and  was  almost  completely  abandoned 
by  its  inhabitants  at  the  time  of  the  Langobardic 
inroads,  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  place  within  the 
protection  of  the  city  walls  the  bones  of  the  martyrs, 
whose  tombs,  from  the  time  of  Constantine,  had  more 
and  more  become  centres  of  pilgrimage.  The  first 
translation  of  remains  is  the  one  just  mentioned,  of 
the  time  of  Boniface  IV. ;  the  second  took  place  in 
648 ;  the  third  in  682,  when  the  bodies  of  Primus  and 
Felicianus  were  removed  from  Nomentum,  and  those 
of  Viatrix,  Faustinus,  and  Simplicius  from  the  ceme- 


116  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT   ROME 

tery  of  Generosa,  at  the  sixth  mile-stone  of  the  Via 
Campana,  in  the  Vigna  Ceccarelli,  near  La  Magliana. 

The  last  exploiting  of  the  Catacombs  for  the  bones  of 
martyrs  was  due  to  Paschal  I.  (817-824).  Contem- 
porary documents  speak  of  "  innumerable "  transfer- 
ences of  relics.  One  of  them,  —  the  official  register  of 
the  relics,  removed  July  20,  817,  to  S.  Prassede,  — 
mentions  twenty-three  hundred  bodies  deposited  under 
the  chapel  of  S.  Zeno,  which  Paschal  I.  had  built  in 
memory  of  his  mother,  Theodora  Episcopa.  The 
mosaic  legend  of  the  apse  of  St.  Caecilia  speaks  like- 
wise of  the  removal  of  bodies  quae  primum  in  cryptis 
pausabant. 

These  removals  of  relics  are  interesting  from  another 
point  of  view,  —  they  mark  the  beginning  of  archaeo- 
logical research  among  the  remains  of  the  great  impe- 
rial thermae.  The  relics  of  martyrs  were,  as  a  rule, 
deposited  in  basins  and  bath-tubs  of  rare  marble,  in 
which  the  thermae  of  Caracalla  and  Diocletian  particu- 
larly abounded.  The  bones  of  Viatrix,  Faustinus,  and 
Simplicius,  mentioned  above,  were  placed  by  Leo  II. 
under  the  high  altar  of  the  church  of  S.  Vibiana  "  in 
a  basin  of  oriental  alabaster  of  oval  shape,  twenty-five 
palms  in  circumference,  with  heads  of  leopards  in  high 
relief."  Stephen  V.,  while  rebuilding  the  church  of 
SS.  Apostoli  in  816  A.D.,  likewise  placed  the  bodies 
of  Eugenia  and  Claudia  "  in  a  basin  of  porphyry " 
(in  concha  porpJiyretica).  Two  archaeologists,  Giovanni 


THE  MONUMENTS  IN  THE   SEVENTH  CENTURY       117 

Marangoni  and  Francesco  de  Ficoroni,  have  made  a 
list,  interesting  though  incomplete,  of  these  precious 
spoils  of  Roman  baths  used  in  churches ;  to  it  we 
should  add  another  class  of  works  of  art  similarly 
employed,  the  sarcophagi,  which  occasionally  take  the 
place  of  the  bath  basins,  in  spite  of  their  reliefs  of  a 
distinctly  pagan  character. 

Singular  as  this  practice  seems  to  us,  we  cannot 
judge  of  the  taste  of  the  Roman  clergy  in  those  dark 
and  semi-barbaric  days  in  the  light  of  our  own  feel- 
ings and  education.  They  could  hardly  spell  the  Latin 
words  inscribed  on  the  marble  slabs  which  they  used  in 
the  pavements,  in  the  walls,  and  in  the  altars  of  their 
churches ;  much  less  could  they  understand  their  mean- 
ing. A  pedestal  covered  with  symbols  of  the  worship 
of  the  Magna  Mater,  in  its  most  crude  and  hateful 
form,  was  used  as  an  altar  of  the  Crucifix  in  the 
church  of  S.  Michele  in  Borgo.  The  tombstone  of 
Flavius  Agricola  from  Tibur,  with  its  epicurean  legend, 
was  discovered  August  14,  1626,  a  few  feet  from  the 
grave  of  St.  Peter,  in  the  foundations  of  the  left  front 
column  of  the  Baldacchino.  The  high  altar  in  the 
church  of  S.  Teodoro  was  supported,  until  1703,  by  a 
round  altar,  on  the  rim  of  Avhich  the  following  words 
were  inscribed :  "  On  this  marble  of  the  gentiles  in- 
cense was  offered  to  the  gods."  The  pavement  of 
St.  Paul's  without  the  walls  was  patched  with  931 
miscellaneous  inscriptions. 


118  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

A  worshipper  raising  his  eyes  toward  the  apse  of  the 
church  of  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damianus,  could  behold  at 
the  same  time  the  great  mosaic  figure  of  the  Saviour, 
and  a  group  of  the  twin  founders  of  the  City  sucking 
the  wolf,  in  opus  sectile.  In  the  basilica  of  Junius 
Bassus  on  the  Esquiline,  Christianised  under  the  name 
of  St.  Andrew  at  the  Manger,  he  could  see  the  group 
of  the  Saviour  with  the  Apostle  in  the  Tribune,  and, 
turning  to  the  side  walls,  the  portraits  of  Nero,  Galba, 
and  six  other  emperors,  Diana  hunting  the  stag,  Hylas 
stolen  by  the  Nymphs,  Cybele  on  the  chariot  drawn  by 
lions,  the  chariot  of  Apollo,  initiates  performing  mys- 
terious Egyptian  rites,  and  other  representations  from 
pagan  cults.  I  may  mention  in  the  last  instance  the 
church  of  S.  Martina,  formerly  the  Secretarium  Senatus, 
the  walls  of  which  were  adorned  with  the  bas-reliefs 
from  the  arch  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  representing  the 
Emperor  sacrificing  before  the  altar  of  Jupiter  Optimus 
Maximus. 

The  Epitome  of  the  Chronicon  Cassinense,  which 
dates  from  the  time  of  Stephen  II.  (752-757),  says  that 
after  the  "  recovery  of  the  Cross "  made  by  Heraclius 
in  629,  the  Emperor  betook  himself  to  Rome,  where 
he  was  proclaimed  Emperor,  and  given  the  imperial 
diadem  in  the  throne  room  of  the  palace  of  the  Caesars 
(in  augustdli  solio  Caesareani  Palatii  a  senatoribus  posi- 
tus  et  diademate  redimitus,  monocrator  constitutus  esfy. 
This  passage  of  the  Chronicon  shows  that  the  palace, 


THE   MONUMENTS   IN   THE   SEVENTH  CENTURY       119 

in  spite  of  the  pillages  of  Totila,  of  Genseric,  and  of 
the  Romans  themselves,  could  still  be  used  for  state 
ceremonies  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventh  century. 

By  palace  I  mean  the  special  wing  known  in  classical 
times  by  the  name  of  "  Domitian's  house "  (olicia 
Ao/imafoO)  or  Aedes  publicae  populi  Romani.  This 
great  structure  had  never  been  used  as  a  dwelling  by 
the  emperors,  but  simply  as  a  state  residence  where 
they  held  their  levees,  delivered  their  decisions,  pre- 
sided over  councils  of  state,  received  foreign  envoys, 
and  gave  official  banquets.  The  building  had  never 
required  repairs,  on  account  of  the  enormous  solidity 
of  its  construction.  The  remains  of  the  hall,  where 
the  coronation  of  Heraclius  took  place,  are  still  to  be 
seen.  It  was  excavated  by  Bianchini  in  1724,  and  again 
by  Rosa  in  1865.  Judging  from  the  finds  made  on 
these  two  occasions,  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  629  this 
throne  room  was  well  preserved,  not  only  in  its  essen- 
tial parts,  such  as  walls,  ceiling,  roof,  and  windows, 
but  also  in  its  decorative  details.  Bianchini  discovered 
two  columns  of  giallo  antico  which  stood  on  either  side 
of  the  main  door,  which  were  sold  by  the  Duke  of 
Parma  to  the  stone-cutters  Perini  and  Macinocchi  for 
3000  scudi ;  a  threshold  made  of  a  block  of  Greek  marble 
so  large  that  the  high  altar  of  the  church  of  the  Ro- 
tonda  has  since  been  cut  out  of  it ;  fragments  of  the 
sixteen  columns  of  pavonazzetto  supporting  the  entabla- 
ture, with  capitals  and  bases  exquisitely  cut  in  ivory- 


120  DESTRUCTION   OF   ANCIENT   HOME 

coloured  marble,  and  two  out  of  the  eight  colossal 
statues  which  stood  in  the  niches.  If  so  much  remained 
of  the  decoration  of  the  hall  in  1724,  after  it  had  been 
at  the  mercy  of  lime-burners  and  stone-cutters  for  the 
space  of  ten  centuries,  the  hall  itself  may  well  have 
been  in  almost  perfect  condition  at  the  time  of  the 
coronation  of  Heraclius. 

Another  wing  of  the  palace,  the  northeast  section  of 
the  Domus  Graiana,  which  overlooks  the  Forum  and  the 
Sacra  Via,  seems  to  have  been  kept  in  repair  and  some- 
times occupied  by  the  popes,  as  a  practical  evidence  of 
their  political  power  in  Rome.  This  wing  was  put 
under  the  care  of  an  officer  styled  a  euro,  Palatii. 
About  680  one  of  these  officers,  named  Plato,  rebuilt 
or  repaired  the  long  staircase  which  ascends  from  the 
Clivus  Victoriae  to  the  rooms  above.  His  son,  having 
been  elected  pope  in  705  under  the  name  of  John  VII., 
conceived  the  plan  of  making  the  Domus  Gaiana  the 
official  residence  of  the  bishops  of  Rome,  above  the 
present  church  of  S.  Maria  Liberatrice  (super  ecclesiam 
sanctae  Dei  genetricis  qitae  antiqua  vocatur  episcopium 
construere  voluify. 

John  VII.  did  not  live  to  see  his  project  carried  out ; 
as  his  successors  took  no  interest  in  it,  they  repaired 
to  the  monasteries  and  strongholds  of  the  Palatine  only 
in  case  of  necessity.  There  were  four  of  these  ecclesi- 
astical establishments  on  the  Palatine,  the  Ecclesia  and 
Monasterium  S.  Caesarii  in  Palatio,  first  mentioned  in 


THE    MONUMENTS   IN   THE   SEVENTH   CENTURY       121 

the  time  of  Phocas,  603  A.D.,  but  probably  older,  where 
the  images  of  the  Byzantine  emperors  were  exhibited 
to  the  public  as  a  symbol  of  the  power  that  they  still 
claimed  over  Rome ;  the  monastery  called  Palladium, 
now  represented  by  the  church  of  S.  Sebastiano  alia 
Polveriera  in  the  Vigna  Barberini,  near  the  east  corner 
of  the  hill,  a  strongly  fortified  place  where  the  popes 
sought  refuge  and  protection  in  times  of  popular  out- 
breaks ;  the  Turris  Cartularia  built  on  the  platform  of 
the  temple  of  Jupiter  Stator,  by  the  arch  of  Titus, 
in  which  the  archives  of  the  church  were  kept  for 
many  centuries ;  and  lastly  the  Septizonium,  the  great- 
est mediaeval  stronghold  of  the  Palatine,  garrisoned  by 
the  Frangipanis  under  the  ownership  of  the  abbots  of 
the  monastery  SS.  Andreae  et  Gregorii  ad  Clivum 
Scauri. 

The  latest  bit  of  evidence  regarding  the  real  or  nomi- 
nal occupancy  of  the  Palatine  episcopal  residence  by 
the  popes  came  to  light  November  8,  1883,  during  the 
excavation  of  the  House  of  the  Vestals.  At  the  north- 
east corner  of  the  peristyle  the  remains  of  a  modest 
mediaeval  dwelling  were  discovered,  belonging  to  a  high 
official  of  the  court  of  Marinus  II.,  —  a  pontiff,  other- 
wise obscure,  who  occupied  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  from 
942  to  946.  This  official  must  have  been  in  charge 
of  the  pope's  rooms  which  were  placed  among  the 
ruins  of  the  Domus  Gaiana.  It  is  important  to  notice 
that  when  this  small  house  was  built,  at  the  beginning 


122  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME  ' 

of  the  tenth  century,  the  pavement  of  the  Atrium 
Vestae  was  already  covered  with  a  layer  of  rubbish 
five  feet  thick.  The  columns  of  the  peristyle  had 
been  removed  or  knocked  down  from  their  bases,  the 
walls  stripped  of  their  marble  veneering,  and  even 
the  small  tesserae  of  the  mosaic  pavement  wrenched 
from  their  setting.  Around  the  Palatine  hill  clustered 
the  Byzantine  colony,  to  which  we  owe  the  construc- 
tion of  the  churches  of  the  Anastasis,  of  S.  Maria  in 
Schola  Graeca,  of  S.  Saba,  of  St.  Theodore,  and  of 
St.  George,  still  existing,  as  well  as  those  of  S.  Euplos 
and  S.  Phocas,  which  have  long  since  disappeared.1 

The  visit  of  Heraclius  to  Rome  in  629  is  connected 
with  another  event  in  the  history  of  the  destruction 
of  the  City.  He  made  a  present  to  Pope  Honorius  I. 
(625-640)  of  the  gilt-bronze  tiles  which  covered  the 
roof  of  the  temple  of  Venus  and  Rome,  to  be  removed 
to  that  of  St.  Peter's.  This  fact  proves  that  the 
temple  was  at  that  time  in  a  good  state  of  repair ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  stripping  off  of  the  tiles 
was  a  sure  way  to  promote  the  downfall  of  the  build- 
ing. Specimens  of  these  tiles  were  seen  and  described 
by  Justus  Rycq  and  Giacomo  Grimaldi  at  the  time  of 
Paul  V.,  who  destroyed,  in  1606,  the  roof  and  the 
nave  of  old  St.  Peter's. 

Another  famous  edifice  fell  at  the  same  time  into  the 

1  For  further  particulars,  see  the  interesting  chapter  on  the  history 
of  the  Palatine  in  Grisar's  History  of  the  Popes  in  the  Middle  Ages. 


THE   MONUMENTS  IX  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY       123 

hands  of  the  Pope,  the  Curia  or  Senate-house,  which 
he  dedicated  to  St.  Hadrian,  a  saint  otherwise  unknown. 
The  ancient  decorations  of  the  hall,  the  gilt  coffers  of 
the  vaulted  roof,  the  marble  panelling  of  the  walls,  the 
bas-reliefs  of  the  pediment,  and  the  bronze  door  did 
not  suffer  damage  or  alteration  with  the  "  Christianisa- 
tion  "  of  the  building.  They  disappeared  partly  in  1589, 
partly  in  1654,  at  the  hands  of  Cardinal  Agostino 
Cusano  and  of  Alfonso  Sotomayor,  who  raised  the  floor 
of  the  church  to  the  modern  level,  and  altered  the 
classic  shape  of  the  building.  The  bronze  doors  were 
removed  to  the  church  of  St.  John  Lateran  by  Alex- 
ander VII.,  but  as  the  folds,  which  filled  an  aperture 
about  eighteen  by  eleven  feet,  were  smaller  than  the 
doorway  of  the  Lateran,  a  band,  ornamented  with  the 
typical  stars  of  the  Pope  (Chigi),  was  added  to  the 
ancient  metal  work.  A  third  edifice,  the  Heroon  of 
Romulus,  son  of  Maxentius,  lost  the  bronze  tiles  of  its 
roof  about  the  same  time.  Pope  Sergius  I.  saved  the 
temple  from  destruction  by  covering  the  dome  with 
sheets  of  lead.1 

On  July  5,  663,  Rome  had  for  the  last  time  the  mis- 
fortune of  an  imperial  visit.  Constans  II.,  compelled 
by  a  guilty  conscience  on  account  of  a  fratricide  to 

1  See  De  Rossi,  Bull,  di  arch,  crist.,  1867,  p.  62.  The  sheets  of  lead 
were  afterward  stolen,  and  vegetation,  of  considerable  growth,  sprung 
up  on  the  bare  dome.  When  the  monument  was  restored,  in  1879,  I 
found  roots  of  ilexes,  and  fig-trees,  four  inches  in  diameter,  wedged 
in  the  cracks  of  the  masonry. 


124  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

wander  from  sanctuary  to  sanctuary,  had  undertaken  a 
pilgrimage  to  Rome  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  and 
was  met  by  Pope  Vitalianus  and  the  few  inhabitants 
near  the  sixth  mile-stone  of  the  Appian  Way.  The 
short  and  friendly  visit  of  this  Christian  emperor 
proved  most  disastrous  to  the  Roman  monuments ;  he 
seized  everything  of  value  which,  after  the  repeated 
sieges  of  Vandals,  Goths,  and  Lombards,  had  been  left 
to  plunder.  The  statement  of  Dyer  in  regard  to  this 
robbery  is  not  exaggerated.  "  In  the  twelve  days  which 
Constans  spent  at  Rome,"  says  this  writer,  "  he  carried 
off  as  many  bronze  statues  as  he  could  lay  hands  on  ; 
and  though  the  Pantheon  seemed  to  possess  a  double 
claim  to  protection,  as  having  been  presented  by  Phocas 
to  the  Pope,  and  as  having  been  converted  into  a 
Christian  church,  yet  Constans  was  mean  and  sacri- 
legious enough  to  carry  off  the  tiles  of  gilt  bronze 
which  covered  it.  After  perpetrating  these  acts,  which 
were,  at  least,  as  bad  as  robberies,  and  attending  mass 
at  the  tomb  of  St.  Peter,  Constans  carried  off  his 
booty  to  Syracuse.  His  plunder  ultimately  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Saracens." 

A  remarkable  discovery  has  been  made  in  later  years 
bearing  on  this  visit  of  Constans  to  Rome.  The  Em- 
peror, between  his  acts  of  doubtful  devotion  in  churches 
and  basilicas,  found  time  to  visit  the  pagan  monuments 
and  ruins.  These  visits  were  recorded  by  one  of  his 
attendants  by  scratching  his  sovereign's  name  on  a 


THE    MONUMENTS    IX  THE   SEVENTH   CENTURY       125 

prominent  part  of  every  building  which  the  party  dis- 
honoured with  its  presence.  One  of  these  graffiti  is 
to  be  found  on  the  four-faced  arch,  Janus  Quadrifrons, 
on  the  right  side  of  the  archway  facing  the  church  of 
S.  Giorgio  in  Velabro,  the  ancient  Forum  Boarium ; 
another  on  the  very  top  of  Trajan's  column. 

Possibly  more  than  mere  records  of  a  visit  of  curi- 
osity, these  scratchings  are  records  of  plunder.  There 
is  every  probability  that  the  statue  of  the  "best  of 
Princes,"  on  the  top  of  the  column  of  Trajan,  was  car- 
ried off  by  this  visitor.  The  fate  of  the  statue  on  the 
column  of  Marcus  Aurelius  also  is  not  known ;  perhaps 
it  was  hurled  down  from  the  top  of  the  column,  and 
broken  into  pieces  by  the  fall.  When  the  Marchese 
Ferrajuoli  rebuilt  the  foundations  of  his  palace  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Piazza  Colonna,  in  1868,  the  finger 
of  the  left  hand  of  a  bronze  statue  of  colossal  size 
was  discovered  in  the  layer  of  rubbish  which  covers  the 
ancient  stone  pavement  of  the  square.  It  is  quite  pos- 
sible that  a  careful  examination  of  the  principal  Roman 
monuments,  such  as  the  Coliseum,  Pantheon,  and  the 
column  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  would  lead  to  the  discovery 
of  *other  graffiti  of  a  similar  character,  and  thus  enable 
us  to  follow,  step  by  step,  the  wanderings  of  the  last 
Emperor  who  saw  Rome  before  the  ravages  of  the 
Normans. 


CHAPTER   XI 

* 

THE   INCURSION    OF   THE   SARACENS,  IX   846,  AND   THE 
EXTENSION   OF   THE   FORTIFICATIONS   OF   THE   CITY 

THE  conquest  of  Palermo  by  the  Saracens  in  831 
caused  the  reigning  Pope,  Gregory  IV.,  to  adopt  cer- 
tain measures  of  defence.  The  first  was  the  construc- 
tion of  a  fort  as  an  outpost  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Tiber ;  another  was  the  abandonment  of  the  churches 
outside  the  walls,  in  the  wilderness  of  the  Campagria, 
their  contents  being  transferred  within  the  shelter  of 
the  City's  defences. 

The  founding  of  Gregoriopolis,  the  fortress  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  is  described  in  the  Liber  Ponti- 
ficalis.1  AVe  are  informed  that  the  ancient  colony  and 
harbour  of  Ostia,  "stricken  with  age,  seemed  to  have 
been  altogether  destroyed  "  ;  yet  there  were  a  few  fever- 
stricken  inhabitants  still  wandering  among  the  ruins. 
Gregory  is  praised  by  the  biographer  as  having  built 
a  new  line  of  walls  with  portcullis  gates,  crowned 
with  powerful  batteries  (petrariae),  and  protected  by  a 
deep  moat.  The  account  is  greatly  exaggerated,  to 
judge  from  the  remains  of  this  Gregoriopolis  which 

1  Gregorius,  IV.  38. 
126 


INCURSION  OF  THE   SARACENS,   IN  846  127 

the  late  Carlo  Ludovico  Visconti  and  I  laid  bare  in 
the  winter  of  1867-1868.  What  Gregory  IV.  or  his 
representatives  actually  did  at  Ostia  in  the  way  of 
erecting  fortifications  amounts  to  little  or  nothing. 
They  simply  selected  two  or  three  blocks  of  old  houses 
on  the  left  side  of  the  main  street  and  filled  up 
the  doors,  windows,  and  shop-fronts  with  mud  walls. 
They  also  barricaded  the  openings  of  the  streets  which 
ran  between  the  blocks.  It  is  possible,  although  we 
found  no  evidence,  that  the  houses  surrounding  this 
rudimentary  fort  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  boundary 
streets  were  levelled  to  the  ground. 

The  Saracenic  invasion  of  846  is  a  well-known  event 
in  its  main  lines,  but  very  uncertain  in  its  details.  The 
biographer  of  Sergius  II.  (844-847),  a  contemporary,  and 
perhaps  an  eye-witness,  of  the  facts,  leaves  off  his  de- 
scription at  the  most  critical  point.  It  seems  that  on 
the  10th  of  August,  846,  Count  Adalbert,  Governor  of 
Tuscany  and  protector  of  Corsica,  sent  warning  that  a 
fleet  of  seventy-three  Saracenic  vessels,  carrying  eleven 
thousand  men  and  five  hundred  horses,  had  been  sig- 
nalled making  for  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber.  Count 
Adalbert  urged  the  Romans  to  place  within  the  protec- 
tion of  the  walls  the  bodies  of  the  princes  of  the 
apostles,  Peter  and  Paul,  as  well  as  the  great  treasure 
in  gold  and  silver  which  many  generations  of  pilgrims 
had  deposited  over  their  tombs  in  the  outlying  and 
defenceless  basilicas  of  the  Via  Cornelia  and  of  the 


128  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

Via  Ostiensis.  The  Romans,  however,  paid  little  atten- 
tion to  the  warning  of  Adalbert,  but  satisfied  them- 
selves with  communicating  the  contents  of  his  letter  to 
the  villagers  and  farmers  of  the  Campagna,  that  these 
might  assemble  for  the  defence  of  the  coast.  Villagers 
and  farmers,  likewise,  treated  the  message  with  con- 
tempt ;  so  that  when  the  Saracens  landed  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Tiber,  on  the  twenty-third  of  the  month,  they 
found  Gregoriopolis  abandoned,  and  were  able  to  make 
that  outpost  their  base  of  operations. 

In  these  straits  the  Romans  showed  as  much  weak- 
ness, not  to  call  it  cowardice,  as  they  had  previously 
shown  want  of  forethought.  The  only  inhabitants  who 
had  sufficient  courage  to  rush  to  the  defence  of  Porto 
(on  the  side  of  the  river  opposite  Ostia,  and  con- 
nected with  it  by  means  of  a  "  wretched  bridge  ")  were 
the  members  of  the  foreign  colony,  the  Saxons,  the 
Frisians,  and  the  Franks,  who  lived  in  the  quarter 
called  Biygus,  between  the  castle  of  S.  Angelo  and 
the  Vatican. 

After  two  encounters,  in  which  nineteen  skirmishers 
lost  their  lives,  Porto  was  taken  by  the  infidels  and 
the  garrison  put  to  the  sword ;  the  few  survivors  were 
pursued  as  far  as  Ponte  Galera.  This  happened  on  the 
26th  of  August ;  on  the  following  day  the  Saracens 
marched  upon  Rome,  while  their  fleet  was  towed  up- 
stream, and  took  possession  —  free  and  undisturbed  —  of 
the  basilicas  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  outside  the  walls. 


INCURSION  OF  THE  SARACENS,  IN  846  129 

I  have  taken  the  pains  to  estimate  —  on  the  authority 
of  the  Liber  Pontlficalis  —  the  weight  of  gold  and 
silver  lavished  on  the  rich  decorations  of  the  two 
churches  from  the  time  of  Constantine  down;  as  nearly 
as  I  can  reckon  it,  about  three  tons  of  gold  and  thirty 
of  silver  must  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Sara- 
cens,—  an  almost  fabulous  booty,  which  well  repaid 
them  for  the  cost  and  trouble  of  their  expedition. 

While  these  depredations  were  going  on,  the  Romans 
attempted  a  sally  in  the  "plains  of  Nero"  (the  Prati  di 
Castello),  but  were  easily  driven  back.  The  farmers 
of  the  Campagna,  supported  by  the  villagers  from  the 
Alban  and  Tiburtine  hills,  seem  to  have  been  more 
successful  in  attacking  and  dispersing  a  band  of  pirates 
near  the  Basilica  of  St.  Paul.  For  this  reason,  or  per- 
haps because  they  had  secured  more  booty  than  their 
vessels  would  hold,  the  invaders  began  their  retreat, 
after  slaughtering  a  great  number  of  men,  destroying 
by  fire  many  towns  and  strongholds,  and  carrying  off 
"a  very  great  booty  of  people  and  of  all  things." 
Their  infantry  and  cavalry  went  south  along  the  Appian 
Way,  while  the  fleet  skirted  the  coast  as  far  as  Gaeta. 
Fleet  and  crews  were  ultimately  lost  in  a  gale  off  the 
coast  of  Sicily. 

The  most  important  circumstance  in  this  chain  of 
events  is  the  fate  of  the  tombs  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Romans  despised  the 
warning  of  Count  Adalbert  in  regard  to  the  safety  of 


130  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT   ROME 

the  treasures  in  gold  and  silver  belonging  to  both 
these  tombs ;  all  the  accounts  agree  in  testifying  that 
the  Saracens  seized  in  either  place  innumerabilia  bona. 
Did  the  people  of  Rome  heed  the  second  part  of  the 
admonition  as  regards  the  bodies  of  the  apostles?  Did 
they  open  the  sarcophagi  and  carry  the  precious  con- 
tents within  the  City  walls? 

The  answer  is  more  than  doubtful.  Pope  Sergius,  in 
the  first  place,  was  so  broken  down  by  gout  and  humor 
podagricus  that  he  could  attend  to  no  duties ;  he  was 
"good  for  nothing,"  according  to  the  statement  of 
his  own  biographer.  His  brother,  Benedict,  we  learn 
from  the  same  source,  was  "extremely  dull  and 
passive"  (brutus  et  stolidus  valde),  and  so  of  even 
less  account.  In  the  second  place,  the  Saracens  fell 
on  both  sanctuaries  like  a  thunderbolt,  according  to 
a  plan  of  campaign  that  had  been  carefully  matured 
beforehand. 

What  this  plan  of  the  Moslem  invaders  was,  it  is 
easy  to  understand.  Suppose  that  the  crusaders  had 
taken  possession  of  Mecca.  Would  not  their  first  aim 
have  been  to  invade  the  Kasbah  and  scatter  to  the 
four  winds  the  bones  of  the  prophet?  A  like  policy 
seems  to  have  been  followed  by  the  infidels  in  regard  to 
our  sanctuaries.  They  certainly  entered  and  plundered 
the  treasures  of  the  crypt  "  where  reposed  the  most  holy 
body  of  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles"  (ubi  sacratissimum 
corpus  principis  apostolorum  requiesdfy ;  here  is  the  proof 


INCURSION  OF  THE  SARACENS,  IN  846  131 

of  it.  Leo  III.  had  placed  over  the  tomb  a  bas-relief 
of  gilt  silver,  representing  the  Redeemer,  the  Virgin 
Mary,  Peter,  Paul,  Andrew,  and  Petronilla.  The  bas- 
relief  was  stolen  by  the  Saracens,  and  a  copy  was  sub- 
stituted in  its  place  by  Leo  IV.  after  the  retreat  of  the 
invaders. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  discuss  in  a  book  like  the 
present  ail  the  arguments  brought  forward  to  prove 
or  to  deny  the  profanation  of  the  sanctuaries  of  both 
Peter  and  Paul  in  846.  My  opinion  is  that  the  fate 
of  the  two  holy  places  was  not  in  all  respects  the 
same  ;  that  the  sarcophagus  of  St.  Peter,  placed  in  a 
subterranean  crypt  and  protected  by  a  case  of  solid 
metal  embedded  in  masonry,  escaped  rifling,  while 
that  of  St.  Paul,  a  plain  marble  coffin  level  with  the 
floor  of  the  basilica,  was  certainly  injured  or  destroyed. 
We  find  the  evidence  of  the  fact  last  mentioned  in  the 
life  of  Benedict  III.:1  Sepulchrum  (Pauli  apostoli)  quod 
a  Sarracenis  destructum  fuerat,  perornavit.  The  word 
destructum,  however,  cannot  be  taken  in  a  literal  sense ; 
the  lid  of  the  sarcophagus,  with  the  epitaph  PAULO 
APOSTOLO  MART(YRI)  engraved  in  the  style  of  the  age 
of  Constantine,  is  still  in  existence.  I  saw  it  on  Decem- 


1  Chapter  xxii.  in  Duchesne's  edition  of  the  Liber  Pontificalis,  Vol. 
II.  p.  145.  The  passage  relating  to  St.  Peter's,  in  the  life  of  Leo  IV., 
mentions  not  the  grave,  but  the  altar  of  the  Apostle  as  having  been 
injured  by  the  Saracens :  beatiss.  Petri  altare  violatum  et  ad  vilitatem 
perductum. 


132  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

ber  1,   1891,  having  lowered  myself  from  the  fenestella 
under  the  high  altar.1     (Fig.   23.) 

The    most    noteworthy   consequence    of    these    events, 
from  a  topographical   point    of  view,  was   the    inclusion 


FIG.  23.  —  The  tomb  of  St.  Paul  and  the  canopy  of  Arnolf o  di  Lapo  in  S.  Paolo 
fuori  le  Mura,  after  the  fire  of  1823. 

of  the  Vatican  district  in  the  City  proper,  and  the 
construction  of  two  powerful  outlying  forts,  one  at 
St.  Paul's,  the  other  at  the  church  of  S.  Lorenzo  fuori 
le  Mura. 

The    walls   of    the    Civitas   Leonina,    or    Burgus,    are 

1  See  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome,  p.  157. 


INCURSION  OF  THE   SARACENS,  IN  846  133 

still  in  existence,  and  are  properly  considered  a  mas- 
terpiece of  mediaeval  military  engineering.  Leo  IV. 
undertook  to  imitate,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  construc- 
tion of  the  wall  of  Aurelian.  His  structure  is  twelve 
feet  thick,  and  has  two  galleries,  one  above  the  other. 
The  lower  gallery  is  supported  by  open  arcades  facing 
within.  The  upper  one  is  level  with  the  battlements. 
The  arcades  of  the  lower  gallery  were  walled  up  in 
the  fifteenth  century  by  Pope  Borgia,  and  the  gallery 
itself  transformed  into  a  secret  passage  —  the  famous 
Corridojo  di  Castello  —  connecting  the  palace  of  the 
Vatican  with  the  fortress  of  S.  Angelo.  To  this  cor- 
ridor, many  popes  and  cardinals  have  been  indebted  for 
escape  from  death  or  servitude ;  one  of  the  most  strik- 
ing instances  is  that  of  Pope  Clement  VII.,  who  in 
May,  1527,  fled  through  this  passage  from  the  hordes 
of  Charles  of  Bourbon. 

The  construction  of  the  Leonine  wall,  so  elaborate 
in  the  level  stretch  between  the  Vatican  and  the  for- 
tress of  S.  Angelo,  becomes  more  simple  on  the  hill 
behind  the  church,  the  steep  slopes  of  which  consti- 
tute a  natural  and  effective  line  of  defence.  Here 
we  find  a  plain  wall  with  no  galleries,  save  a  passage 
at  the  height  of  the  battlements,  as  may  be  seen  in 
our  illustration.  (Fig.  24.)  The  most  exposed  angles 
were  protected  by  round  towers,  two  of  which  are 
still  in  existence  and  form  a  conspicuous  landmark  in 
the  Vatican  landscape.  The  one  represented  in  the 


134 


DESTRUCTION   OF   ANCIENT  EOME 


illustration,  which  stands  at  a  height  of  187  feet  above 
the  sea,  commands  an  unlimited  view  over  the  Cam- 
pagna  and  the  coast,  and  is  therefore  described  as  the 


FIG.  2-i.  —  Tower  of  the  wall  of  Leo  IV.,  now  used  as  an  observatory. 

turris  unde  mare  prospicitur  in  the  early  representa- 
tions of  the  Vatican  group.  It  is  now  used  as  an  ob- 
servatory for  photographing  the  section  of  the  heavens 
which  was  allotted  to  the  Holy  See  by  the  Interna- 


INCURSION  OF  THE   SARACENS,  IN  846  135 

tional  Astronomical  Congress.1  The  other  tower  is 
used  as  a  chapel  for  the  new  summer  casino  of 
Leo  XIII. 

The  pontifical  treasury  and  the  resources  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Rome  were  unequal  to  the  task  of  completing 
the  walls  in  the  required  time.  A  system  of  forced 
service  (praestatio  operis)  was  in  consequence  resorted 
to,  and  the  colonists  of  the  fortified  farms  of  the 
Campagna  were  called  upon  to  take  a  share  in  the 
work.  Two  inscriptions,  now  affixed  to  the  arch  which 
spans  the  Via  Angelica,  give  important  details  of  the 
scheme  adopted  to  obtain  thus  speedy  assistance  and 
cheap  labour.  One  says,  "In  the  time  of  our  Lord 
the  Pope  Leo  IV.,  the  Militia  Saltisina  (a  colony  on 
the  road  to  Ardea,  fifteen  miles  from  Rome)  built  these 
two  towers,  and  the  wall  between  them ;  "  the  other, 
"  In  the  time  of  our  Lord  the  Pope  Leo  IV.,  the 
Militia  Capracorum  (a  colony  founded  by  Hadrian  I. 
near  the  ruins  of  Veii  on  the  site  of  the  present  farm 
of  S.  Cornelia)  built  this  tower  and  the  wall  which 
connects  it  with  the  next."  Both  companies  declare 
that  they  worked  under  the  direction  of  a  certain  Agatho, 
who  was  probably  the  chief  engineer  of  the  Leonine  wall. 

In  880  John  VIII.  did  for  St.  Paul's  without  the 
Walls  what  Leo  IV.  had  done  thirty  years  before  for 
St.  Peter's,  but  with  this  difference,  that  while  the 

1  This  work  is  entrusted  mostly  to  Cavaliere  Mannucci,  to  whom  I 
am  indebted  for  the  illustration. 


136  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

Burgus  was  included  in  and  became  a  part  of  the  City 
proper,  the  Basilica  Ostiensis  with  its  adjoining  mon- 
astery and  hospices  remained  a  detached  fort,  con- 
nected with  the  City  only  by  means  of  a  colonnade  a 
mile  long.  The  stronghold  —  of  which  no  trace  is  now 
to  be  seen  above  ground  —  was  named  Johannipolis  after 
its  founder.  A  second  detached  fort  was  built  about 
the  same  time  for  the  protection  of  the  basilica  of 
S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le  Mura.  No  historical  document 
mentions  the  fact,  but  we  possess  a  drawing  of  Martin 
Heemskerk  which  shows  the  state  of  the  stronghold 
about  1534. 1  The  fact  that  two  inhabited  centres  of 
the  Campagna,  Saltisinum  and  Capracorum,  could  fur- 
nish a  strong  contingent  of  soldier-workmen  for  the 
defence  of  the  Capital,  seems  to  prove  that  a  few  forti- 
fied farms  did  escape  from  the  depredation  of  the 
Saracens.  I  may  add  that  some  of  the  Saracens  them- 
selves, namely,  the  prisoners  taken  at  St.  Paul's  and 
on  the  road  to  Gaeta,  were  compelled  to  take  a  share 
in  the  work,  the  fact  being  recorded  in  an  inscription.2 
The  extent  of  the  zone  plundered  in  the  fearful  visita- 
tion of  846  can  be  determined  with  the  help  of  the  list 
of  churches  which  Leo  IV.  had  to  refurnish  with  sacred 
implements  and  vestments.  None  of  the  church  build- 
ings, however,  seem  to  have  been  materially  damaged; 
at  least  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  in  the  Liber  Pon- 

1  Reproduced  in  Ruins  and  Excavations,  Fig.  35. 

2  De  Rossi,  Inscriptiones  Christianae  urbis  Romae,  Vol.  II.  p.  347. 


INCURSION  OF  THE   SARACENS,  IN  846  137 

tificalis  any  mention  of  Leo  IV.  or  his  successors  having 
repaired  roofs,  walls,  windows,  or  doors.  The  list  of 
plundered  churches  comprises  those  of  Silva  Candida, 
of  the  delta  of  the  Tiber,  of  Ostia  and  Porto.  I  must 
record  especially  that  of  S.  Cyriacus  on  the  Via  Osti- 
ensis,  because  it  was  just  in  the  neighbourhood  of  its 
remains  that  Signor  Pietro  Rocchi  discovered  some 
twenty-five  years  ago  traces  of  one  of  the  Saracenic 
camps,  consisting  mainly  of  daggers  and  poniards  with 
curved  blades  of  Oriental  make.  Other  churches  are 
mentioned  on  the  Tusculan  and  Alban  hills  (Frascati, 
Morena,  Massa  Maruli),  and  along  the  Via  Appia  as 
far  as  Terracina  and  Fondi.  Important,  above  all,  is 
the  mention  of  the  church  of  SS.  Cosmas  and  Dami- 
anus  (S.  Cosimato)  near  Subiaco,  because  it  shows  that 
the  Saracens  carried  their  devastation  as  far  as  the 
upper  valley  of  the  Anio,  and  into  the  very  heart  of 
the  Simbruine  Mountains. 

We  find  a  survival  from  this  incursion  at  the  present 
day  in  the  village  of  Saracinesco,  perched  like  an  eagle's 
nest  on  a  conical  and  almost  inaccessible  peak  at  a 
height  of  2500  feet  above  the  sea,  and  of  1350  feet 
above  S.  Cosimato.  There  is  no  doubt  that  a  foraging 
party,  having  been  cut  off  from  the  main  body,  and 
finding  a  retreat  impossible,  took  shelter  among  these 
rocky  precipices,  and  that  afterwards  they  were  allowed 
to  form  a  settlement  and  live  in  peace  by  substituting 
the  cross  for  the  crescent.  Some  of  the  inhabitants, 


138  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

who  come  to  Rome  every  winter  clad  in  their  pictu- 
resque costumes  as  painters'  models,  have  preserved 
their  Arabic  names,  like  El-Mansour  (Almansorre). 
Elmansour  is  also  the  name  of  a  cave  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  village.  From  this  point  of  view,  there- 
fore, our  valley  of  the  Anio  forms  a  counterpart  of 
the  Saas-Thal  in  the  Valaisan  Alps,  the  villages  and 
peaks  of  which  still  preserve  their  Saracenic  names 
(Monte  Moro,  Allalin,  Mischabel,  Alphubel,  Almagell, 
Balferin,  etc.),  from  the  invasion  of  927. 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE   FLOOD   OF   856 

ON  January  6,  856,  when  Benedict  III.  was  pope,  the 
Tiber  rose  violently,  broke  through  the  embankments, 
and  flooded  the  lower  quarters  of  the  City  to  the 
depth  of  several  feet.  According  to  the  Liber  Ponti- 
ficalis  the  waters  reached  the  highest  step  of  the  stairs 
of  St.  Dionysius,  near  the  present  church  of  S.  Silvestro 
in  Capite,  and  the  architrave  of  the  door  of  S.  Maria 
in  Via  Lata.  Houses  fell  or  were  washed  away  by  the 
hundred,  trees  were  uprooted,  men  and  cattle  drowned, 
and  crops  destroyed,  all  the  way  down  the  river  from 
Rome  to  the  sea. 

What  damage  was  in  this  instance  done  to  the  classic 
monuments  we  do  not  know ;  but  the  records  show  that 
during  the  Middle  Ages  there  were  several  destructive 
inundations  of  the  Tiber,  and  they  are  described  with 
an  almost  stereotyped  formula  in  the  Liber  Ponti fie  alls. 
The  formula  runs  thus  :  — 

On  such  an  hour,  on  such  a  day  of  such  a  year,1  the 
waters  broke  through  the  posterula  of  St.  Agatha,  and 

1  Hora  diei  X.  for  the  inundation  of  October  30,  860.  See  Liber 
Pontificalis,  Vol.  II.  p.  145,  chap,  xxiii. 

139 


140  DESTRUCTION   OF   ANCIENT   ROME 

rushing  over  the  waste  fields  of  the  Campus  Martius, 
followed  the  line  of  the  Via  Flaminia  (the  modern  Corso) 
to  the  foot  of  the  Capitoline  hill ;  then,  pushed  back  by 
this  obstacle,  they  followed  the  line  of  the  Pallacinae,  etc. 
Such  a  description  would  not  be  applied  to  a  gentle 
rising  of  the  waters,  which  quietly  spread  over  the  low- 


FIG.  '25.  —  The  Forum  Hooded  by  the  Tiber  — 18%. 

lying  districts,  giving  time  to  the  citizens  to  save  life 
and  property ;  we  have  here  rather  a  sudden  outburst, 
produced  by  the  breaking  away  of  an  obstacle,  whether 
a  levee,  or  an  embankment,  or  a  wall.  In  the  inundation 
of  856  the  obstacle  must  have  been  in  the  line  of  the 


THE   FLOOD  OF  856  141 

walls  of  Aurelian  and  Honorius,  which  followed  the  left 
bank  of  the  river  from  the  Turris  ubi  umbra  Neronis 
din  mansitavit,  by  the  present  Ponte  Margherita,  to 
the  Ponte  Sisto.  There  were  two  or  three  gaps  in 
the  wall,  called  posterulae,  which  served  to  give  access 
to  the  ferries  and  to  the  mooring  stations  along  the 
bank.  The  posterula  of  St.  Agatha,  through  which 
the  inundations  broke,  was  the  northernmost  of  the 
gaps,  and  consequently  the  most  exposed  of  all ;  any 
temporary  obstruction  of  the  water  here  would  be  apt 
to  give  way  first  under  the  pressure  of  the  flood. 

Even  in  modern  times  floods  have  been  not  infre- 
quent. Our  illustration  shows  the  Forum  under  water 
at  the  time  of  a  freshet  (Fig.  25).  A  destructive 
inundation  in  1557  carried  away  part  of  the  Pons 
Aemilius  (Fig-  44). 


CHAPTER   XIII 
THE   ROME   OF   THE   EINSIEDLEN   ITINERARY 

THE  name  Einsiedlen  Itinerary  has  been  given  to 
a  summary  description  of  Rome  dating  from  the  ninth 
century,  which  is  appended  to  a  collection  of  inscrip- 
tions, mostly  of  Roman  origin,  in  a  manuscript  volume 
formerly  in  the  library  of  the  Abbey  of  Pfeffers,  now 
in  that  of  Einsiedeln,  in  Switzerland.  The  volume  has 
been  examined  and  illustrated  in  its  minutest  details 
by  Haenel,  Jordan,  De  Rossi,  and  myself.1  Our  joint 
researches  have  proved  that  the  Itinerary  was  made  up 
of  the  legends  of  a  map  of  Rome  of  the  time  of 
Charlemagne,  prepared  for  the  use  of  pilgrims.  The 
legends,  therefore,  are  arranged  so  as  to  form  eleven 
itineraries,  or  routes,  between  the  main  centres  of 
religious  attraction.  The  list  is  as  follows  :  — 

ROUTE 

I.     From  the  Aelian  Bridge  to  the  Esquiline,  by  S.  Lucia  in 
Selce. 

II.     From  the  Aelian  Bridge  to  the  Porta  Salaria. 

1  Haenel,  in  Archiv  fur  Philologie  und  Padagogik,  Vol.  V.  (1837) 
pp.  115-138;  Jordan,  Topographic  von  Horn,  Vol.  II.  p.  329;  De  Rossi, 
Inscr.  Christ.,  Vol.  II.  pp.  9  et  seq.;  Lanciani,  V  Itinerario  di  Einsiedlen 
e  V  Ordo  di  Benedetto  Canonico,  Rome,  1891. 

142 


THE   ROME  OF  THE   EINSIEDLEN  ITINERARY        143 

III.  From   the   Aelian   Bridge   to   the   Porta   Asiuaria   (now   S. 

Giovanni). 

IV.  From  the  Aelian  Bridge  to  St.  Paul's  without  the  Walls. 
V.     From  the  Porta  Nomentana  to  the  Forum  Romanum. 

VI.     From  the  Porta  Flaminia  (now  Porta  del   Popolo)   to  the 
Capitol  (Via  di  Marforio). 

VII.     From  the  Porta  Tiburtina  (S.  Lorenzo)  to  the  Subura  by 
the  Esquiline  gate  of  Servius ;   and  again 

VIII.     From  the  Porta  Tiburtina   to  the   Subura  by  the  Viminal 
gate  of  Servius. 

IX.     From  the  Porta  Aurelia  (S.  Pancrazio)  to  the  Porta  Prae- 
nestina  (now  Porta  Maggiore). 

X.     From  the  Circus  Maximus  to  the  Porta  Metroni,  across  the 
Caelian  Hill. 

XI.     From  the  Porta  Appia  (now  Porta  di  S.  Sebastiano)  to  the 
Schola  Graeca  (Bocca  della  Verita). 

The  Ninth  Route,  from  west  to  east,  marks  what  the 
camp  surveyors  would  call  the  decumanus  maior;  the 
Third,  from  north  to  south,  approximately,  gives  us 
the  line  of  a  cardo,  at  right  angles  with  it ;  the  others 
are  designed  to  illustrate  the  four  quarters  formed  by 
the  intersection  of  the  cardo  and  the  decumanus.  The 
author  of  the  document  had  two  purposes  in  view : 
first,  to  show  the  pilgrims  their  way  from  one  basilica 
to  another,  from  the  grave  of  one  martyr  to  that  of 
another ;  and  secondly,  to  point  out  to  them  the  most 
conspicuous  edifices,  profane  as  well  as  sacred,  which 
they  would  see  on  the  right  or  on  the  left  of  their 


144  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

path.  The  map  used  by  the  compiler  of  the  Itinerary 
is  the  oldest  of  which  we  have  knowledge,  after  those 
of  the  time  of  Constantine,  which  served  for  the  com- 
pilation of  the  Notitia  and  of  the  Curiosum  Urbis ;  in 
fact,  I  believe  it  to  be  a  revised  edition  of  the  Con- 
stantinian  map,  because  some  of  the  names  are  so 
distinctly  classical  (as,  Vicus  Patricii,  Minervium,  Ha- 
drianum)  as  to  betray  a  much  earlier  origin  than  the 
time  of  Charlemagne. 

The  streets  along  which  the  pilgrim  is  led  through 
the  City  are  exactly  those  of  imperial  Rome ;  no 
change  had  yet  taken  place  in  their  direction,  and 
their  pavement  of  blocks  of  basalt,  worn  by  age,  was 
not  yet  covered  with  a  layer  of  rubbish  or  with  sand 
from  the  inundations  of  the  Tiber.  I  am  speaking,  of 
course,  in  general ;  for  there  is  more  than  one  instance 
of  deviation  from  a  straight  line,  in  order  to  avoid 
obstacles  placed  in  the  way  by  the  downfall  of  some 
great  building  of  the  Republic  or  of  the  Empire. 

A  conception  of  the  importance  of  this  document,  as 
throwing  light  on  the  state  of  the  Roman  monuments 
in  the  ninth  century,  may  be  gained  from  the  first  of 
the  Routes,  which  takes  us  from  the  Aelian  Bridge 
to  the  Esquiline,  directly  through  the  heart  of  the 
City.  The  edifices  are  grouped  in  three  columns : 
those  on  the  right  of  the  path,  I N  D(extra) ;  those  on 
the  left,  I N  S(inistra) ;  and  those  crossed  by  the  path 
itself.  The  text  says  :  — 


THE   ROME  OF  THE   EINSIEDLEN  ITINERARY        145 


FROM   THE   GATE   OF    ST.   PETER   TO    THE   CHURCH    OF 
S.   LUCIA   IN   ORTHEA 


On  the  Right 
The  Circus  Flaiuinius. 


On  the  Left 


The  Rotunda. 

The  thermae  of  Coramodus. 


The  church  of  S.  Laurentius  in 

Damaso. 
The   theatre   of   Pompey.      The 

Cypress. 
The  church  of  St.  Lawrence.   The 

Capitol. 

The   Forum   of  Trajan   and   its      The  church  of  S.  Sergius,  where 
column.  is  the  Umbilicus  Romae. 

The  Arch  of  Septimius  Severus. 

The  Tiber.  The  equestrian   statue   of   Con- 

The  church  of  St.  Hadrian.  stantine. 

The  Forum  Romanum. 
The  church  of  St.  Agatha. 

Subura. 
The  thermae  of  Constantine.  The  church  of  S.  Pudens  in  Vico 

Patricii. 

The  church  of  S.  Vitalis  in  Vico      The  church  of  S.  Laurentius  in 
Longo,    where    the    beautiful  Formoso.     Back  again  by  the 

horses  are.  Subura. 

The  church  of  S.  Euphemia  in      The  thermae  of  Trajan  ad  Vin- 
Vico  Patricii.  cula. 

The  gate  of  St.  Peter,  from  which  we  start,  is  the 
gate  of  the  Aurelian  wall,  which  opened  at  the  left  or 
Cistiberine  entrance  to  the  Aelian  Bridge,  on  the  site 
of  the  present  Piazza  di  Ponte  S.  Angelo.  Its  classical 
name  of  Porta  Aurelia  (nova)  .had  since  the  time  of 
Procopius  (Goth.  I.  19)  been  superseded  by  that  of 
Peter,  "  the  chief  of  the  apostles."  We  now  enter  the 


146  DESTRUCTION   OF  ANCIENT   ROME 

Via  del  Banco  di  S.  Spirito,  Via  dei  Banchi  Vecchi, 
and  Via  del  Pellegrino,  all  ancient  as  shown  by  the  re- 
mains of  Roman  basaltic  pavement  which  are  constantly 
discovered  under  the  modern  pavement  at  a  depth  vary- 
ing from  ten  to  fifteen  feet.  The  buildings  pointed 
out  on  the  left  are :  the  Stadium,  where  now  is  the 
Piazza  Navona,  to  which  the  name  of  Circus  Flaminius 
is  wrongly  applied ;  the  Rotunda,  or  Pantheon ;  the 
Thermae  Commodianae,  probably  the  Baths  of  Agrippa 
restored  by  Commodus.  First  on  the  right  are  the 
Library  and  archives  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  founded 
by  Pope  Damasus  in  the  barracks  of  the  green  squadron 
of  charioteers  (Stabula  Factionis  Prasinae,  S.  Lauren- 
tius  in  Prasino);  and  the  theatre  of  Pompey,  the  re- 
mains of  which  occupy  the  space  between  the  Piazza 
di  Campo  di  Fiori  and  the  Via  Argentina. 

We  are  not  sure  what  is  meant  by  "  the  Cypress " 
(Cupressus*),  which  in  our  itinerary  follows  the  mention 
of  Pompey's  theatre.  Names  of  streets,  or  even  of 
quarters,  derived  from  a  solitary  tree  growing  conspicu- 
ously in  a  wilderness  of  ruins,  are  not  infrequent  in 
Rome.  Our  Ninth  Ward  (Rione)  is  actually  called 
della  Pigna,  "  Pine-tree  Ward " ;  we  have  also  a 
Piazza  dell'  Olmo,  "  Elm-tree  Square,"  and  a  Piaz- 
zetta  del  Fico,  "  Fig-tree " ;  a  Via  dell'  Arancio,  etc. 
Yet,  while  such  designations  may  be  adopted  by  the 
populace,  it  seems  hardly  credible  that  they  should  have 
been  registered  in  such  a  document  as  the  Itinerary, 


THE   ROME   OF  THE  EINSIEDLEN  ITINERARY        147 

and  put  down  as  indicating  one  of  the  most  important 
landmarks  of  the  City. 

Resuming  our  journey  toward  the  Forum,  we  enter 
the  Via  delle  Botteghe  Oscure,  skirting  the  east  side  of 
the  Circus  Flaminius  (the  site  of  which  is  indicated 
by  that  of  the  church  of  S.  Laurentius  in  Pensilis, 
built  among  and  above  its  ruins),  then  the  Via  di  S. 
Marco  or  Pallacinae,  and  lastly  the  Via  di  Marforio, 
named  Clivus  Argentarius  in  antiquity,  and  Ascesa 
Prothi  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  Itinerary  mentions 
the  Capitoline  hill  and  the  church  of  SS.  Sergius  and 
Bacchus  on  the  left,  the  Forum  and  the  column  of 
Trajan  on  the  right.  Entering  the  Forum  Romanum  by 
the  arch  of  Septimius  Severus,  we  turn  at  once  to  the 
left,  and  following  the  succession  of  short  streets,  Via 
della  Croce  Bianca,  de'  Monti,  Leonina,  and  Via  di  S. 
Lucia  in  Selce,  corresponding  to  the  Argiletum,  Subura, 
and  to  the  Clivus  Suburanus,  we  reach  the  end  of  the 
journey  at  the  Esquiline  gate,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  church  of  S.  Lucia  in  Orthea,  better  known  under 
the  name  of  S.  Lucia  in  Selce. 

Nine  points  of  interest  are  recorded  on  the  left, 
namely,  the  Senate-house  dedicated  to  St.  Hadrian  by 
Pope  Honorius  I.,  the  church  of  S.  Cyriacus,  now 
called  dei  SS.  Quirico  e  Giolitta ;  the  church  of  St. 
Agatha,  the  Baths  of  Constantine,  and  the  beautiful 
group  of  the  Horse-tamers,  from  which  the  Quirinal 
hill  borrowed  its  popular  name  of  Monte  Cavallo;  and 


148  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

lastly,  the  four  churches  of  S.  Vitalis  on  the  Vicus 
Longus  (Via  di  S.  Vitale),  of  S.  Lorenzo  in  Panisperna, 
of  Pudens,  and  of  S.  Euphemia  on  the  Vicus  Patricii 
(Via  Urbana,  Via  del  Bambino  Gesu).  All  these 
churches  are  still  extant  except  that  of  S.  Euphemia, 
which  was  destroyed  by  Sixtus  V.  in  1587,  while 
cutting  open  the  new  street  between  the  Panisperna 
and  S.  Maria  Maggiore.  On  the  right  two  edifices 
only  are  mentioned,  the  Baths  of  Trajan  and  the 
Basilica  of  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli.  Though  in  general 
it  is  true  that  the  modern  streets  mentioned  above,  dei 
Banchi,  del  Pellegrino,  delle  Botteghe  Oscure,  etc.,  follow 
the  lines  of  ancient  thoroughfares,  the  statement  must 
not  be  accepted  too  literally.  There  is  usually  a 
slight  deviation  to  the  right  or  to  the  left,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  the  old  pavements  of  basalt  have  come 
to  light,  as  a  rule,  under  the  houses  which  flank  the 
modern  streets,  rather  than  under  the  streets  them- 
selves. 

The  importance  of  the  other  section  of  this  precious 
document,  in  which  are  transcribed  some  of  the  monu- 
mental inscriptions  of  the  City,  is  almost  as  great  as 
of  that  containing  the  Itinerary.  I  do  not  refer  to 
inscriptions  from  the  edifices  which  are  still  in  exist- 
ence, such  as  the  arch  of  Claudius  in  the  Via  del 
Nazzareno,  the  obelisk  of  the  Vatican,  the  column 
of  Trajan,  and  the  arch  of  Septimius  Severus,  but  to 
those  from  buildings  which  have  partly  or  wholly 


THE   ROME  OF  THE  EINSIEDLEN  ITINERARY        151 

disappeared.  Following  the  order  of  the  manuscript 
we  find  the  first  monument  to  be  the  bridge  by  which 
the  Via  Salaria  crossed  the  river  Anio,  broken  down 
first  by  Totila  in  544,  again  by  the  Neapolitan  army 
in  1798,  and  for  the  third  time  by  the  Pope's  own 
soldiers  in  1867  (Fig.  26). 

Next  in  order  are  inscriptions  from  the  square  base 
of  the  mausoleum  of  Hadrian,  the  epitaphs  of  the 
great  emperors  of  the  second  century  buried  within. 
The  epitaphs  were  destroyed  in  July,  1579,  by  Pope 
Gregory  XIII.,  who  made  use  of  the  marbles  for  the 
decoration  of  the  Cappella  Gregoriana  in  St.  Peter's. 
The  document  mentions  furthermore  the  triumphal  arch 
of  Arcadius,  Honorius,  and  Theodosius,  which  stood  by 
the  church  of  S.  Orso  at  the  entrance  of  the  bridge 
of  Nero  (Pons  Neronianus  or  Vaticanus);  that  of  Gra- 
tian,  Valentinian,  and  Theodosius,  which  stood  by  the 
church  of  S.  Celso  in  Banchi,  destroyed  toward  the 
end  of  the  fifteenth  century ;  and  lastly  an  arch  built 
by  Titus  at  the  curved  end  of  the  Circus  Maximus, 
the  fate  of  which  is  not  known. 

We  find  a  reference  also  to  a  Nymphaeum,  which 
was  rebuilt  in  the  fifth  century  by  Flavius  Phi- 
lippus,  prefect  of  the  City,  at  the  corner  of  the  Via 
della  Navicella  (Vicus  Capitis  Africae)  and  Via  dei 
SS.  Quattro  (Tabernola);  we  possess  a  drawing  of  it, 
made  about  1500  by  Peruzzi.1  The  monumental  in- 

i  C.  L  L.  VI.  1728  a. 


152  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

scriptions  of  the  market  (macellum)  of  Li  via  were  still 
in  place ;  they  were  afterwards  made  use  of  in  the 
restoration  of  various  churches,  including  that  of  S. 
Maria  in  Trastevere,  two  miles  distant,1  from  the 
pavement  of  which  they  came  to  light  again  in  1868. 
The  Baths  of  the  Julii  Akarii,  which,  according  to 
another  document  of  the  Einsiedlen  manuscript,  stood 
near  the  island  of  S.  Bartolomeo,  are  otherwise  un- 
known. The  Septizonium  at  the  south  corner  of  the 
Palatine  hill  seems  already  to  have  fallen  into  a  ruin- 
ous condition.  The  inscription  on  the  frieze  of  the 
lower  colonnade  numbered  originally  280  letters,  of 
which  118  could  be  copied  by  the  Einsiedlen  scribe, 
on  the  extreme  left  of  the  building  toward  the  Circus 
Maximus,  and  45  letters  by  the  anonymous  Barberi- 
nianus  (Cod.  XXX.  25)  on  the  extreme  right  toward 
the  arch  of  Constantine.  There  was  consequently  a  gap 
of  117  letters  between  the  two  ends  of  the  ruins, 
which  were  respectively  called  Septem  Solia  Maior 
and  Septem  Solia  Minor.  As  the  total  length  of  the 
building  was  not  far  from  three  hundred  feet,  two- 
fifths  had  seemingly  collapsed  before  or  about  the  time 
of  Charlemagne.2 

Another  inscription  of  the  collection  refers  in  a 
rather  confused  way  to  the  repairs  made  by  Arcadius 
and  Honorius  to  the  theatre  of  Pompey,  which  had 

1  C.  I.  L.  VI.  1178. 

2  Ruins  and  Excavations,  p.  183. 


THE   ROME   OF  THE   EINSIEDLEN   ITINERARY         153 

been  half -ruined  by  an  earthquake.1  The  Forum  of 
Trajan  and  the  Baths  of  Diocletian  still  retained  some 
of  their  monumental  inscriptions  in  place.  The  pave- 
ment of  the  Forum  Romanum,  of  the  Sacra  Via,  of 
the  Vicus  Tuscus,  and  of  the  Argiletum  was  still  clear 
from  any  accumulation  of  rubbish,  as  shown  by  the 
fact  that  the  compiler  of  the  collection  could  copy 
the  inscription  of  the  Caballus  Constantini,  and  others 
almost  level  with  the  pavement  itself.  He  saw  also 
several  monuments  on  the  Capitoline  hill,  and  con- 
siderable remains  of  the  embankment  walls  of  the 
Tiber.2  It  appears,  finally,  that  many  tombs  along 
the  lonesome  roads  of  the  Campagna  still  retained 
their  epitaphs  and  marble  decorations,  and  that,  here 
and  there,  the  eye  fell  on  an  edict  issued,  centuries 
before,  by  some  prefect  of  the  City,  such  as  the 
regulations  against  the  frauds  of  the  millers  of  the 
Janiculum,  and  of  the  customs  officers  stationed  at 
the  gates  and  posterns  of  the  walls  of  Arcadius  and 
Honorius.3 

1  C.  I.  L.  VI.  1191. 

2  Ibid.,  472,  562,  773,  916,  1014,  1472,  1708. 
8  Ibid.,  1711,  1016,  c. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE  USURPERS  OF   THE  HOLY  SEE,  AND  THE  SACK 

OF   1084 

THE  two  centuries  between  the  pontificate  of  John 
VIII.  (872-882)  and  that  of  Gregory  VII.  (1073-1085) 
witnessed  the  deepest  degradation  in  the  history  of 
mediaeval  Rome.  As  we  follow  the  chain  of  events, 
roughly  described  in  contemporary  chronicles,  we  are 
often  reminded  of  the  time  of  the  "thirty  tyrants"  in 
the  third  century  of  the  Empire,  the  comparison  being 
always  in  favour  of  these  last. 

We  read  of  pontificates  lasting  only  weeks  or  even 
days,  as  that  of  Boniface  VI.,  which  extended  over  fif- 
teen days ;  of  Theodore  II.,  who  was  Pope  for  twenty 
days,  and  of  Benedict  V.,  who  filled  the  chair  of  St. 
Peter  for  sixty-three  days.  There  were  forty-nine 
popes  in  two  hundred  years,  and  the  succession  was 
determined,  not  by  established  usage,  but  by  the  preva- 
lence for  the  moment  of  one  or  another  faction.  Popes 
were  elected  in  direct  opposition  to  the  statutes  of 
canon  law,  as  Marinus  I.  (882-884),  Formosus  (891- 
896),  and  John  X.  (914-928)  ;  elections  were  secured 
by  an  open  purchase  of  votes,  as  that  of  Benedict 

154 


THE   USURPERS  OF  THE   HOLY  SEE  155 

VIII.;1  there  was  a  double  and  even  a  triple  election, 
—  that  of  Sergius  III.  and  John  IX.  in  898,  and  that 
of  Benedict  IX.,  Sylvester  III.,  and  Gregory  VI.  in 
1045. 

The  supreme  pontiff  might  be  thrown  into  prison 
by  his  own  attendants,  as  was  Leo  V.,  in  903,  after 
reigning  only  40  days ;  usurpers  might  in  turn  be  ex- 
pelled and  shut  up  in  a  monastery,  as  Christopher  was 
in  904;  a  pope  might  be  strangled  with  a  rope,  or 
suffocated  with  pillows,  or  stabbed  to  the  heart,  as 
Stephen  VI.,  Leo  V.,  Christopher  I.,  John  X.,  John 
XII.,  Benedict  VI.;2  or  chased  from  the  chair  of  St. 
Peter,  as  Romanus  was.  The  grave  of  a  pope  might 
be  violated  for  the  sake  of  the  richly  embroidered  vest- 
ments in  which  the  body  had  been  buried,  as  was  the 
tomb  of  Hadrian  III.,  at  Nonantola,  in  885 ; 3  in  one 
case  the  body  itself  was  exhumed  from  before  the  high 
altar,  slashed  in  the  face  and  hands,  mutilated,  dragged 
on  the  floor  of  St.  Peter's,  and  thrown  into  the  river, — 
such  a  lot  befell  the  corpse  of  Formosus  in  896.4 

Sepulchral  inscriptions  of  popes  in  this  period  are  still 

1  1021-1024.      The  sum  spent  on  this  occasion  is  variously  stated 
at  1000  to  2000  pounds  of  Papienses,  or  gold  denarii  coined  at  Pavia. 
See  Lib.  Pont.  Vol.  II.  pp.  270,  275. 

2  De  Rossi,  Inscr.  Christ.  Vol.  II.  p.  215 ;   Auxilius,  Defens.  Formos. 
ch.  10  ;  Lib.  Pont.  Vol.  II.  p.  235,  n.  1,  p.  248,  n.  18 ;  Lintprand,  Auta- 
pod.  III.  43  ;  Martinus  Polonus  in  Lib.  Pont.  Vol.  II.  p.  240. 

8  Lib.  Pont.  Vol.  II.  p.  225,  n.  3. 

4  "Ann.  Alamann."  in  Mon.  Germ.  Scr.  Vol.  I.  p.  53;  Dummler, 
Auxilius  und  Vulgarius,  p.  95. 


156  DESTRUCTION  OF   ANCIENT  ROME 

extant  in  which  their  predecessors  are  called  "  wolves  " l 
and  "unclean."2  The  sacred  office  was  at  the  mercy 
of  an  unspeakable  Theodora  vestararia  and  a  Marotia 
senatrix.3  Patricians,  like  George  Aventinensis  and 
Gregory  the  Nomenclator,4  were  blinded,  mutilated,  and 
dragged  from  church  to  church.  Matrons  were  punished 
by  being  stripped  of  their  garments  in  the  face  of  .the 
populace  and  scourged  till  the  blood  ran,  like  Maria 
Superista.5  There  were  fights  in  the  streets,  attacks  on 
the  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  appeals  —  often  successful  — 
to  foreign  invaders,  famine,  pestilence,  fires,  robberies, 
murders.  The  extent  to  which  the  moral  sense  of  men 
wras  blunted  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the 
paternity  of  John  XI.  (931-936)  is  registered  in  the 
Liber  Pontificalis  in  words  that  are  unquotable.  But  it 
is  only  fair  to  remember  that  this  shocking  state  of 
affairs  did  not  prevail  in  Rome  alone.  The  whole  of 
Europe  in  those  dark  days  was  corrupt ;  yet,  even  in 
this  period,  we  now  and  then  find  a  pope  of  noble 
character,  whose  virtue,  wisdom,  and  sanctity  are  in 
striking  contrast  with  the  tendencies  of  the  age. 

To  what  vicissitudes  the  remains  of  ancient  Rome  were 
subject  in  the  tenth  century  it  is  easier  to  imagine  than 

1  Be  Rossi,  Inscr.  Christ.  Vol.  II.  p.  212. 

2  Ibid.  p.  215,  and  Lib.  Pont.  Vol.  II.  p.  258,  n.  4. 

3  Chronicon  of  Benedict  of  Soracte,  ad  a.  928. 

4  Mon.  Germ.  Scr.  Lang.  p.  483 ;  Ann.  Fuld.  ad  a.  882 ;   Auxilius, 
Defens.  Formos.  ch.  4. 

6  Mon.  Germ.  Scr.  Lang.  p.  483. 


THE    USURPERS  OF  THE   HOLY  SEE  157 

to  set  forth  in  detail.  Amidst  general  disorder  and  the 
strifes  of  contending  factions,  they  became  the  prey  of 
any  one  who  had  the  power  to  seize  them  and  use  them 
for  his  own  purposes.  Some  great  buildings  were  trans- 
formed into  strongholds ;  others  were  levelled  to  the 
ground  to  prevent  their  occupation  by  the  opposite 
faction.  A  few  were  occupied  by  the  lowest  orders  of 
tradespeople  ;  thus  the  Forum  Transitorium  was  taken 
possession  of  by  the  butchers,  the  Basilica  Julia  by  the 
rope-makers,  the  Crypta  Balbi  by  the  candle-makers,  and 
the  Circus  Flaminius  by  the  lime-burners. 

There  was  a  decline  in  the  number  of  pilgrims  vis- 
iting the  Holy  City.  Lack  of  knowledge  —  in  regard 
to  reading  and  writing  —  had  extended  so  far  that, 
after  the  double  election  of  Sylvester  and  Gregory, 
in  1045,  as  both  these  popes  were  illiterate,  a  third 
pontiff  was  named  who  could  help  them  celebrate  the 
holy  offices.1 

The  falling  off  in  the  number  of  pilgrims  was  manifest 
in  the  shrinkage  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Pence,"  the  principal 
item  in  the  revenue  of  the  Holy  See.  This  was  due  to 
the  insecurity  of  travel  not  only  in  the  Campagna,  but 
also  in  the  rest  of  Italy  and  in  the  Alpine  passes.  There 
were  regular  bands  of  highwaymen,  organized  to  waylay 
the  pilgrims  and  rob  them  of  the  pence  that  they  were 
expecting  to  offer  to  the  "great  beggar,"  as  Rome  was 
called.  Especially  for  pilgrims  from  the  northern  side 

1  See  Mon.  Germ.  Scr.  Lang.  Vol.  VI.  p.  358  ad  a.  1044. 


158  DESTRUCTION  OP  ANCIENT  ROME 

of  the  Alps  the  journey  to  the  "seat  of  the  Apos- 
tles" involved  risks  and  sufferings  which  now  seem  in- 
credible. An  inscription  formerly  in  the  parish  church 
of  Bourg-St. -Pierre,  in  the  Val  d'Entremont,  recorded 
the  murders  committed  by  a  band  of  Saracens  in  the 
St.  Bernard  Pass.  These  were  the  Moors  of  Frassi- 
neto,  who  for  more  than  half  a  century,  from  906  to 
973,  commanded  the  passes  of  the  western  Alps,  ex- 
acting heavy  ransoms  from  travellers,  especially  pil- 
grims. In  940  they  crossed  the  St.  Bernard  and  fell 
on  the  rich  monastery  of  St.  Maurice  in  the  Rhone 
Valley.  In  973,  a  distinguished  pilgrim,  Maiolus,  abbot 
of  Cluny,  was  taken  at  the  bridge  of  Orsieres,  and 
compelled  to  pay  a  large  sum  in  gold  to  save  his 
life. 

The  outlaws  of  the  Campagna  vied  in  rapacity  and 
cruelty  with  the  Moors  of  Frassineto ;  and,  although 
the  popes  of  a  later  age  succeeded  in  extirpating  the 
evil,  as  regards  the  existence  of  regularly  organized 
bands,  yet  the  lonely  roads  converging  to  Rome  have 
not  until  recently  been  quite  secure.  There  exists  still 
(at  least,  I  saw  it  a  few  years  ago)  a  modest  wooden 
cross  on  the  left  bank  of  the  ancient  Via  Clodia,  oppo- 
site the  so-called  Sepoltura  di  Nerone,  which  marks 
the  spot  where  a  young  female  pilgrim  was  atrociously 
murdered  in  1827.1 

Toward   the   beginning   of   this    troubled    period   the 

1  Shown  in  Fig.  17,  p.  93. 


THE  SACK  OP  1084  159 

loss  of  revenue  from  the  contributions  of  pilgrims  was 
temporarily  offset  by  an  increase  from  an  unexpected 
source.  In  the  pontificate  of  Stephen  VI.  (896-897), 
the  venerable  basilica  of  St.  John  Lateran  fell  in.  Negli- 
gently built,  with  spoils  from  earlier  edifices,  as  were 
the  other  churches  of  the  time  of  Constantine,  it  had 
long  since  begun  to  show  signs  of  decay.  The  walls 
of  the  nave  rested  on  columns  of  various  kinds  of  marble, 
differing  in  height  and  strength.  These,  yielding  under 
the  pressure  of  the  roof,  bulged  outward  so  far  that 
the  ends  of  the  beams  of  the  roof-trusses  came  out  of 
their  sockets,  and  the  building  collapsed.  In  the  basilica 
were  untold  treasures  accumulated  in  the  course  of  cen- 
turies ;  as  Gaius  Marius  stole  from  the  smouldering  ruins 
of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  on  the  Capitol  (83  B.C.)  several 
thousand  pounds  of  gold,  and  Julius  Caesar  gathered 
large  sums  of  money  from  the  demolition  of  the  temple 
of  Pietas,  near  the  Forum  Holitorium,  so  the  "usurpers 
of  the  Apostolic  See  bore  from  the  basilica  all  its 
treasures,  all  its  furniture  of  gold  and  silver,  and  all 
the  utensils." 

The  chastisement  that  followed  those  evil  days  was 
sweeping,  and  introduced  a  new  era,  at  least  so  far  as 
the  history  of  the  papacy  is  concerned ;  and  the  fortunes 
of  the  papacy  were  always  closely  connected  with  the 
fate  of  the  City.  Robert  Guiscard,  Duke  of  Apulia, 
arrived  in  sight  of  the  walls  of  Rome,  May  24,  1084, 


160  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

and  established  his  camp  among  the  ruins  of  the  aque- 
ducts, probably  on  the  same  spot  —  by  the  Torre  del 
Fiscale,  fourth  mile-stone  of  the  Via  Latina  —  where  the 
Goths  had  encamped  547  years  before.  The  Romans 
displayed  more  courage  than  might  have  been  expected. 
Abandoned  by  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.,  whom  they  had 
welcomed  as  a  liberator  only  a  few  days  previously, 
knowing  what  they  had  to  expect  at  the  hands  of  the 
Normans  and  Saracens,  whom  Gregory  VII.,  Pope 
Hildebrand,  had  summoned  to  his  rescue,  they  pluckily 
entered  on  the  unequal  fight.  There  were  traitors 
among  them,  however,  chief  of  whom  was  the  consul 
Cencio  Frangipane.  At  daybreak  of  May  28  the  Nor- 
mans and  their  infidel  allies  effected  a  double  entrance 
by  the  Porta  Flaminia  (now  Porta  del  Popolo)  and  the 
Porta  Tiburtina  (now  Porta  di  S.  Lorenzo)  ;  fighting 
their  way  through  the  eastern  quarter  of  the  city,  they 
succeeded  in  releasing  the  Pope  from  the  Castle  of  St. 
Angelo,  and  conducted  him  amid  fire  and  carnage  to 
the  Lateran.  The  whole  of  the  Campus  Martius  and  of 
the  Caelian  hill  was  devastated  by  the  flames,  and  the 
unhappy  City  became  the  scene  of  horrors,  in  compari- 
son with  which  the  sack  of  the  Vandals  seems  merciful. 
On  the  third  day  the  citizens  tried  to  rise  once  more 
against  their  foes,  but  the  attempt  was  stifled  in  blood 
and  fire. 

The  scene  is  well  pictured  by  Gregorovius.     "When 
both  flames  and  the  tumult  of  battle  had  subsided,"  says 


THE   SACK  OF   1084  161 

the  learned  author  of  Rome  in  the  Middle  Ages,1  "  Rome 
lay  a  heap  of  smoking  ashes  before  Gregory's  eyes ; 
burnt  churches,  streets  in  ruins,  the  dead  bodies  of 
Romans,  formed  a  thousand  accusers  against  him.  The 
Pope  must  have  averted  his  eyes  as  the  Romans,  bound 
with  cords,  were  led  in  troops  into  their  camp  by  Sara- 
cens. Noble  women,  men  calling  themselves  senators, 
children,  and  youths  were  openly  sold  like  cattle  into 
slavery;  others,  and  among  them  the  imperial  prefect, 
were  carried  as  prisoners  of  state  to  Calabria.  Goths 
and  Vandals,  nevertheless,  had  been  more  fortunate  than 
were  the  Normans,  since  Goths  and  Vandals  had  found 
Rome  filled  with  inexhaustible  wealth,  while  the  plunder 
of  the  Moslems  in  the  service  of  the  duke  could  no 
longer  have  been  comparable  to  that  which  their  pre- 
decessors had  ravished  from  St.  Peter's  230  years  before. 
The  city  was  now  terribly  impoverished,  and  even  the 
churches  were  devoid  of  ornament.  Mutilated  statues 
stood  in  the  ruinous  streets  or  lay  in  the  dust  amid  the 
relics  of  baths  and  temples.  Hideous  images  of  saints 
remained  here  and  there  in  the  basilicas,  which  were 
already  falling  into  decay,  and  attracted  the  spoiler  by 
the  gold  which  was  possibly  still  affixed  to  them  by 
votaries.  The  brutal  fury  of  the  victors  satisfied  itself 
for  some  days  in  robbery  and  murder,  until  the  Romans, 
a  sword  and  a  cord  round  their  necks,  threw  them- 
selves at  the  feet  of  the  duke.  The  grim  conqueror 

1  Mrs.  Hamilton's  translation,  Vol.  IV.  p.  246. 


162  DESTRUCTION  OF   ANCIENT   ROME 

felt   compassion,   but    he    could    not    make    good    their 
losses." 

Even  after  the  lapse  of  so  many  centuries,  we  can  still 
find  in  Rome  traces  of  this  Norman-Saracenic  invasion. 
The  Caelian  quarter  as  a  whole  has  never  recovered  from 
the  state  of  desolation  to  which  it  was  reduced  in  1084 
(Fig.  27).  The  few  roads  which  traverse  this  silent 
region  are  practically  the  same  as  those  through  which 
Gregory  VII.  had  been  hurried  from  the  castle  of  S. 
Angelo  to  the  Lateran ;  only  their  present  level  is  higher, 
the  layer  of  debris  from  the  burnt  edifices  having 
considerably  raised  the  level  of  the  whole  district.  We 
have  evidence  of  this  in  the  two  churches  of  S.  Clemente, 
one  above  the  other.  The  lower  church  shows  the  level 
of  the  city  before,  and  the  upper  that  after,  the  fire. 
The  reconstruction  of  S.  Clemente  was  undertaken,  after 
the  withdrawal  of  Robert  Guiscard,  by  Cardinal  Anas- 
tasius,  who  died  in  1126  or  1128,  leaving  the  comple- 
tion of  the  work  to  Cardinal  Pietro  Pisano.  This 
information  has  lately  been  obtained  from  the  epitaph 
of  Cardinal  Pisano,  which  was  accidentally  discovered 
in  the  foundations  of  a  new  house  in  Via  Arenula.  The 
marble  slab  on  which  this  inscription  was  cut  appears 
to  have  been  divided  up  into  small  squares,  at  an  un- 
known date,  to  pave  a  room  in  a  house  two  miles  dis- 
tant from  S.  Clemente.  There  is  a  difference  in  level 
of  thirteen  feet  and  seven  inches  between  the  earlier 
and  the  later  church. 


THE   SACK  OF   1084  165 

The  fate  of  another  ecclesiastical  building  on  the 
Caelian,  the  church  of  the  SS.  Quattro  Coronati,  de- 
stroyed by  the  same  fire,  is  somewhat  different.  This 
church  was  rebuilt  by  Paschal  II.  in  1111  on  the  same 
level,  for  the  reason  that  the  debris  of  the  fire  had  evi- 
dently rolled  down  the  slopes  of  the  knoll  on  which  the 
building  stood,  but  it  occupies  only  a  small  portion  of 
the  original  area.  We  learn  from  the  inscription  of 
Paschal  II.,  still  extant,  that  he  made  excavations  under 
the  marble  floor  in  search  of  some  holy  relics:  iussit 
cavare  sub  altare  quod  prius  combustum  et  confractum 
fuerat  et  invenit  duas  concas  unam  porpkireticam  et  aliam 
ex  proconesso  in  quibus  erant  recondita  sacra  corpora. 
The  work  was  not  completed  till  January  7,  1116.  To 
the  same  Pope  is  due  also  the  reconstruction  of  the 
churches  of  S.  Adriano  in  the  Forum  Romanum  (1110), 
of  S.  Maria  in  Monticelli,  of  S.  Pantaleo  ai  Monti  (1113), 
of  S.  Salvatore  in  Primicerio  (1113),  and  of  a  chapel 
near  the  Porta  Flaminia,  erected  to  scare  away  the  ghost 
of  Nero,  by  which  it  was  believed  that  belated  travellers 
were  pursued  on  entering  the  city. 

Much  has  been  written  in  regard  to  the  extent  of  the 
damage  done  to  the  pagan  monuments  by  the  pillage 
and  fire  of  1084.  It  must  have  been  great,  especially 
in  the  region  of  the  Caelian,  of  the  Oppian,  and  of  the 
valley  which  runs  between  these  hills  in  the  direction  of 
the  Lateran.  The  old  Porta  Asinaria  was  named,  after 
the  catastrophe,  the  Porta  Perusta,  or  the  "  burnt  gate." 


166  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

In  fact,  the  final  decay  of  the  City, — the  abandonment 
of  the  old  level  of  streets  and  squares  (Fig.  28),  the 
disappearance  of  the  remains  of  private  houses,  and  even 
of  some  public  edifices,  —  dates  from  this  fearful  confla- 
gration. The  hills,  long  since  stricken  by  water  famine, 
now  ceased  altogether  to  be  inhabited,  and  the  scanty 
population  pressed  more  and  more  toward  the  Campus 
Martius,  where  the  digging  of  wells  was  easier  on  ac- 
count of  the  alluvial  soil  which  forms  the  valley  of  the 
Tiber.  The  larger  monuments,  such  as  temples,  theatres, 
and  baths,  were  not  much  damaged  by  the  fire.  The  col- 
umns of  Trajan  and  of  Marcus  Aurelius  did  not  suffer  at 
all,  being  in  the  middle  of  open  squares.  The  collection 
of  works  of  art  in  bronze  at  the  Late  ran,  and  that  of 
marble  statues  on  the  Quirinal,  also  went  safely  through 
the  ordeal.  Hildebert,  Archbishop  of  Tours,  who  visited 
Rome  in  1106  or  1107,  speaks  of  great  remains  which 
struck  him  with  admiration,  and  also  of  the  beautiful 
statues  in  which  the  City  still  abounded. 

We  know  one  of  the  reasons,  at  least,  why  the  two 
massive  columns  of  Trajan  and  of  Marcus  Aurelius  were 
spared  in  these  centuries  of  wholesale  destruction.  They 
brought  a  respectable  income  to  their  respective  owners, 
namely,  to  the  public  treasury  for  the  first,  and  to  the 
monks  of  SS.  Dionysius  and  Sylvester  for  the  second. 
An  inscription  in  the  vestibule  of  the  present  church 
of  S.  Silvestro  in  Capite,  dated  1119,  states  that  both 
the  column  of  Marcus  Aurelius  and  the  little  church 


THE   SACK  OF   1084  169 

of  St.  Nicholas  which  stood  at  the  foot  of  it  were  leased 
to  the  highest  bidder,  probably  from  year  to  year,  on 
account  of  the  fees  which  could  be  collected  from  the 
tourist  or  pilgrim  that  wished  to  behold  the  wonders  of 
Rome  from  a  lofty  point  of  observation. 

The  obelisks  were  less  fortunate  than  the  commemo- 
rative columns  just  referred  to,  and  the  overthrowing 
of  the  obelisk  set  up  by  Augustus  as  a  sun-dial  in 
the  Campus  Martius  is  commonly  attributed  to  the 
Normans.  This  shaft  was  undoubtedly  erect  on  its 
pedestal  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  when  the  Ein- 
siedlen  Itinerary  was  compiled  ;  but  we  are  not  sure 
whether,  after  all,  the  Normans  are  to  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  its  destruction.  Were  we  in  possession 
of  precise  records  of  the  discovery  of  the  different  obe- 
lisks, indicating  the  way  in  which  they  lay  on  their  bed 
of  rubbish,  the  depth  at  which  the  various  fragments 
were  found,  the  injuries  that  they  had  received  before, 
during,  or  after  the  fall,  and  the  nature  of  the  frac- 
tures, we  should  probably  be  able  to  tell  by  what 
agency  the  giants  were  laid  low.  But  it  is  certain 
that  the  responsibility  of  the  throwing  down  of  the 
monoliths  cannot  be  fixed  upon  the  early  barbarian  in- 
vaders, because  we  know  that  some  of  the  principal 
obelisks  were  still  standing  in  the  sixth  and  seventh 
centuries.  Nor  can  earthquakes  be  considered  an  ade- 
quate cause ;  why  should  the  Vatican  obelisk  have  been 
the  only  one  to  withstand  the  shocks  ?  Further,  it  has 


170  DESTRUCTION   OF  ANCIENT   ROME 

been  proved  that  the  columns  of  the  porticoes  of  public 
and  private  buildings  destroyed  by  the  earthquake  of 
422  all  fell  in  the  same  direction,  toward  the  north- 
east, that  is,  toward  the  point  of  the  compass  from 
which  the  shock  came.  The  obelisks,  on  the  contrary, 
appear  to  have  fallen  toward  every  point  on  the  horizon. 

The  last  statement  is  corroborated  by  the  evidence 
of  the  first  man  who  investigated  the  subject,  Michele 
Mercati.1  He  states  that  the  obelisks  discovered  by  his 
contemporary,  Sixtus  V.,  —  the  two  from  the  Circus 
Maxim  us,  now  in  the  Piazza  del  Laterano  and  the 
Piazza  del  Popolo,  and  the  one  from  the  mausoleum 
of  Augustus,  now  in  the  Piazza  dell'  Esquilino  —  had 
not  been  overthrown  by  accidental  causes.  They  all 
retained  evidence  of  the  efforts  made  by  man  to  bring 
them  down,  by  drilling  holes  to  insert  levers,  or  by 
building  fires  about  the  pedestal.  He  says  that  every 
obelisk  which  he  saw  come  out  of  the  ground  was  broken 
into  three  pieces,  the  upper  and  middle  pieces  being 
intact,  while  the  lower  portion,  which  rested  on  the 
base,  showed  the  edges  rounded  off  by  the  violence  of 
the  flames.  Such  operations  require  more  time  and 
patience  than  would  have  been  devoted  to  such  a  pur- 
pose by  the  barbarians. 

I  have  three  documents  to  present  in  relation  to  this 
interesting  subject  of  the  fate  of  the  obelisks.  One  is 
an  unpublished  sketch  by  Carlo  Fontana,  showing  the 

1  See  p.  152  of  his  book  Degli  obelischi  di  Boma,  MDLXXXLg. 


THE   SACK  OF   1084 


171 


way  the  obelisk  of  the  gardens  of  Sallust  lay  at  the 
moment  of  its  discovery.  Another  is  a  sketch  by 
Angelo  Maria  Bandini,  showing  the  injuries  which  the 
lower  portion  of  the  obelisk  of  the  Campus  Martius 
had  suffered  before  or  at  the  time  of  its  fall  ;  and 
lastly,  the  record  of  my  own  experience  in  unearthing 
the  obelisk  of  the  temple  of  Isis,  near  the  apse  of  the 
church  of  La  Minerva. 


FIG.  2i).  —  The  obelisk  of  the  gardens  of  Sallust,  as  it  lay  after  it  had  fallen. 

The  sketch  of  Carlo  Fontana,  here  reproduced 
(Fig.  29),  is  dated  March  21,  1706,  and  is  preserved  in 
the  private  library  of  Queen  Victoria  at  Windsor.1  It 
shows  the  way  in  which  one  of  the  obelisks  decorating 
the  Egyptian  casino  of  the  gardens  of  Sallust  had  fallen, 
having  been  broken  into  two  pieces,  one  double  the 
length  of  the  other.  This  division  of  parts  is  especially 
interesting  in  the  light  of  Mercati's  statement  that  in 

i  Volume  G  1,  sheet  249, 


172 


DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 


fff/STVS  !/•: 

dMflFEX-MAXlMVS 


their  fall  the  obelisks 
would  generally  break 
into  three  pieces  of  about 
equal  length. 

The  drawing  given  by 
Bandini 1  to  illustrate  the 
condition  of  the  obelisk 
in  the  Campus  Martins 
is  even  more  significant. 
I  have  reproduced  it  on 
a  scale  a  little  less  than 
one  third  the  size  of  the 
original  (Fig.  30). 

This  drawing  shows 
how  the  lower  portion  of 
the  monolith  had  been 
eaten  away  and  rounded 
off  by  fire ;  we  can  see 
also  the  holes  drilled  in 
the  upper  part  for  the 
insertion  of  levers  and 
iron  clamps,  by  those  who 
were  endeavouring  to  has- 
ten the  fall  of  the  shaft. 
But  the  chief  importance 

1  De  Obelisco  Ccesaris  Augusti, 
e  Campi  Martii  ruderibus  nuper 
eruto.  Romae,  MDCCL. 


FIG.  30. — The  obelisk  of  the  Campus  Marti  us. 


THE  SACK  OF  1084  173 

lies  in  the  fact  that  from  the  evidence  thus  afforded 
we  are  able  to  determine  the  approximate  date  of  the 
fall  itself.  The  reader  will  observe  that  though  the 
shaft  is  greatly  injured  and  in  part  calcined,  the  ped- 
estal is  in  a  remarkable  state  of  preservation.  The 
meaning  of  this  is  clear  —  the  shaft  was  protruding 
above  ground  and  exposed  to  injury,  while  the  base  was 
embedded  in  and  protected  by  the  soil  and  debris  which 
had  accumulated  around  it.  In  other  words,  when  the 
obelisk  of  Augustus  fell,  the  level  of  the  Campus 
Martius  had  risen  some  ten  or  eleven  feet ;  it  was 
about  halfway  between  the  classical  and  the  modern 
level  of  the  City.  We  may,  therefore,  assign  the  fall 
of  the  monolith  to  the  tenth  or  the  eleventh  century. 
In  a  line  with  this  conclusion  was  the  condition  of 
the  obelisk  of  Rameses  the  Great,  which  was  brought 
to  light  June  14,  1883,  among  the  ruins  of  the  temple 
of  Isis.1  AVhen  this  graceful  monument  was  laid  on  its 
side,  the  pavement  of  the  temple  in  which  it  was 
standing  had  already  been  covered  with  a  thick  layer 

of  rubbish. 

1  Bull.  Com.,  1883,  p.  33  sq. 


CHAPTER   XV 

ROME    AT    THE    END    OF    THE    TWELFTH    CENTURY  — 
THE   ITINERARY  OF   BENEDICT 

THE  state  of  Rome  before  and  after  the  Norman  in- 
vasion could  in  no  way  be  more  clearly  indicated  than 
by  comparing  the  Einsiedlen  Itinerary,  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, with  the  Itinerary  of  Benedict,  of  the  twelfth.  This 
last  document,  better  known  under  the  name  of  Ordo 
Romanus,  forms  a  part  of  the  Liber  politicus  written 
by  Benedict,  who  was  canon  of  St.  Peter's  under  the 
pontificate  of  Innocent  II.  (1130-1143).  It  was  dedi- 
cated to  Guy  of  Castello,  cardinal  of  St.  Mark.  Bene- 
dict himself  became  Pope  in  1143,  under  the  name  of 
Caelestinus  II.  His  Ordo,  edited  by  Mabillon,  Urlichs, 
Jordan,  and  myself,1  describes  seven  routes  by  which 
the  popes  used  to  cross  the  city  at  the  head  of  public 
processions  on  certain  days  of  the  year.  They  are  as 
follows :  — 

1  Mabillon,  Museum  Italicum,  Vol.  II.  p.  143,  nn.  50,  51 ;  Urlichs,  Co- 
dex topogruphicns  urbis  Romae,  p.  79  sq. ;  Jordan,  Topographic  der  Stadt 
Horn  in  Altertum,  Vol.  II.  p.  664  sq. ;  Lanciani,  IS Itinerario  di  Ein- 
siedlen, p.  87  sq. 

174 


THE   ITINERARY  OF  BENEDICT  175 

ROUTE 

I.     From  the  church  of  the  Resurrection  (now  S.  Anastasia)  to 
St.  Peter's. 

II.     From  the  church  of  St.  Hadrian  to  S.  Maria  Maggiore. 

III.  From  the  church  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore  to  the  Late  ran. 

IV.  From  the  Lateran  to  the  Vatican,  and 

V.     Back  from  the  Vatican  to  the  Lateran  by  a  different  route. 
VI.     From  the  Coliseum  to  St.  Peter's. 

VII.     From  the  church  of  S.  Maria  Nuova  (now  S.  Francesca  Ro- 
mana)  to  S.  Maria  Maggiore. 

These  seven  routes  correspond  in  part  with  those  fol- 
lowed by  the  Einsiedlen  Itinerary,  and  are  specially 
important  for  our  study  ;  a  greater  number  of  landmarks 
are  mentioned  than  in  the  Einsiedlen  document,  and 
many  changes  are  clearly  seen  to  have  taken  place  in 
the  thoroughfares  of  the  City  since  the  ninth  century. 
We  may  also  observe  that,  while  the  Einsiedlen  Itiner- 
ary is  based  on  a  map  of  the  City  of  the  fourth  or 
fifth  century,  made  at  a  time  when  the  edifices  still 
bore  their  correct  and  classic  names,  the  Itinerary  of 
Benedict  has  a  distinctly  mediaeval  character,  and  shows 
traces  of  the  influence  of  that  widely  used  mediaeval 
guide-book,  "  The  Marvels  of  Rome "  (Mirabilia  Urbis 
Romae}.1  In  fact,  Benedict  the  Canon  apparently  had 
at  hand  no  better  source  of  information  for  topography, 
when  describing  the  pontifical  pageants  through  the 
City,  than  this  vade  mecum  of  ignorant  pilgrims,  which 

1  There  is  an  English  translation  by  F.  M.  Nichols,  London.     1889. 


176  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

had  gradually  made  its  way  among  the  official  documents 
of  the  Roman  curia,  as  did  the  Politicus  of  Benedict  and 
the  liber  Censuum  of  Cencius  Camerarius. 

It  will  be  instructive  to  compare  the  Tenth  Route 
of  the  Einsiedlen  Itinerary  with  the  First  of  the  Itin- 
erary of  Benedict;  both  conduct  the  reader  over  the 
same  ground,  between  the  Circus  Maximus  and  the 
Crypta  Balbi.  The  first  mentions  the  following  objects 
of  interest :  — 

Ecclesia  Graecorum,  now  the  church  of  S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin. 

Scola  Graecorum,  now  Piazza  della  Bocca  della  Verita. 

Templum    Jovis,    temple     of    Jupiter    Optimus    Maximus,    on    the 

Capitoline  hill. 
Elephantus,  i.e.  Elephantus  Herbarius,  on  the  Via  della  Bocca  della 

Verita. 
Portions,  colonnade  on  the  west  side  of  the  Via  della  Bocca  della 

Verita. 

Theatrum,  theatre  of  Marcellus. 
Sanctus  Angelus,  the  colonnade  of  Octavia. 
Porticus,  the  colonnade  of  Philippus. 
Theatrum  Pompeii,  the  theatre  of  Pompey. 

These  names,  we  readily  see,  all  belong  to  the  classi- 
cal or  Byzantine  periods.  But  the  names  of  the  Ordo 
are  of  an  altogether  different  class,  and  their  relation 
to  the  names  given  in  the  Mirabilia  is  at  once  obvious. 
We  start  from  the  church  of  the  Anastasis,  which  has 
already  been  transformed  into  Sancta  Anastasia,  and 
follow  Benedict  over  the  same  route.  The  Porticus 
usque  ad  Elephantum  has  become  the  Porticus  G-alla- 


THE  ITINERARY  OP  BENEDICT  177 

torum,  now  represented  by  the  church  and  hospital  of 
S.  Galla  Patricia ;  the  temples  of  Pietas  and  Hope  in 
the  Forum  Holitorium  have  the  name  of  Cicero  and  the 
Sibyl;  the  theatre  of  Marcellus  is  a  Basilica  Joins ;  the 
Porticus  Minucia  is  now  the  Portions  Crinorum,  and 
the  Crypta  Balbi  is  a  Templum  Craticulae. 

A  similar  shifting  from  ancient  to  mediaeval  names 
is  to  be  found  in  every  route  of  the  Ordo ;  nevertheless 
this  will  always  remain  a  document  of  the  first  rank  for 
our  knowledge  of  monumental  Rome  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. To  indicate  its  value  we  may  take  up  the  part 
dealing  with  the  Burgus,  or  Vatican  district,  which  is 
not  covered  by  the  Einsiedlen  Itinerary  ;  the  topographi- 
cal outline,  accurate  as  well  as  clear,  is  as  follows  :  — 

1.  Pans,  templum,  castellum  Adriani,  now  the  bridge  and   castle  of 

S.  Augelo. 

2.  Porta   collina,   the   gate    of   St.  Peter,   in  front   of   the   castle, 

destroyed  by  Alexander  VI. 

3.  Obeliscus  Neronis,  the  familiar  Terebinth  of  the  Mirdbilia,  one 

of  the  great  mausolea  on  the  border  of  the  Via  Triumphalis. 
Peter  Mallius  describes  this  mausoleum  as  resembling  in 
shape  and  in  height  the  mole  of  Hadrian.  It  was  demolished 
to  take  advantage  of  its  beautiful  marbles  for  the  building  of 
the  steps  and  of  the  court  of  St.  Peter's.  The  name  Terebin- 
thus  seems  to  be  a  corruption  of  tiburtinum,  which  in  the  lan- 
guage of  those  days  meant  an  edifice  built  of  stone  or  marble. 
Antonio  Filarete  has  represented  the  monument,  in  one  of 
the  panels  of  the  bronze  gates,  as  actually  having  the  shape 
of  a  tree  ! 1 

1  The  name  for  turpentine-tree  in  Italian  is  terebinto. 

N 


178  DESTKUCTION   OF   ANCIENT   ROME 

4.  Memoria  seu  sepulcrum  Romuli,  Tomb  of  Romulus. 

This  "  Tomb  of  Romulus  "  was  a  mausoleum  of  pyramidal 
shape,  so  called  to  form  a  pair  with  the  so-called  Meta  lieini, 
which  we  know  as  the  pyramid  of  Cestius,  by  the  Porta  di 
S.  Paolo.  It  was  also  popularly  called  Meta  di  Borgo,  and  is 
represented  in  Antonio  Filarete's  bronze  panel,  as  well  as  in 
Raphael's  fresco  of  the  Vision  of  Constantiiie.  It  stood  on  the 
left  of  the  Via  Triumphalis,  between  the  church  of  S.  Maria 
Transpontina  and  the  palazzo  Giraud-Torlonia  in  the  Piazza 
Scossa-Cavalli.  Alexander  VI.  levelled  it  to  the  ground  to 
make  room  for  his  Via  Alexandriua. 

5.  Porticus,  Porticus  Maior,  Via  Sacra. 

This  was  a  covered  way,  by  means  of  which  the  pilgrims 
could  cross  the  Borgo  under  shelter.  It  started  at  the  Ponte 
S.  Angelo,  and  followed  the  line  of  the  present  Borgo  Vecchio 
to  the  foot  of  the  steps  of  St.  Peter's. 

6.  S.  Laurentius  in  Porticu  Maiore. 

The  covered  way  just  mentioned  was  lined  with  churches 
and  shrines,  such  as  S.  Maria  Transpontina  de  Capite  Porticus, 
demolished  July  13,  1564 ;  S.  Salvator  de  Porticu,  or  de  Bor- 
donia,  now  represented  by  S.  Giacomo  Scossa-Cavalli ;  and  the 
S.  Laurentius  of  the  Ordo,  rebuilt  in  its  present  shape  by  the 
Cesi  d'  Acquasparta  in  1659. 

7.  S.  Maria  in  Virgari. 

This  was  a  church  at  the  end  of  the  covered  way,  toward 
St.  Peter's,  so  called  from  the  corporation  of  makers  and  sellers 
of  pilgrims'  staffs,  to  which  it  belonged.  Pius  IV.  demolished 
it  in  1568  to  widen  the  area  mentioned  under  the  next  head. 

8.  Cortina  Beati  Petri. 

This  was  a  small  square  at  the  foot  of  the  steps  of  St.  Peter's, 
ornamented  with  three  fountains,  one  of  which  was  of  por- 
phyry; the  other  two  were  of  white  marble. 

Interesting  as  it  would  be  to  follow  the  worthy  canon 
through  the  other  parts  of  the  City,  the  limits  of  our  task 


THE   ITINERARY  OF  BENEDICT 


179 


forbid.  Mediaeval  Rome  has  now  almost  readied  the 
limit  of  its  greater  changes.  The  level  of  the  ancient 
City  in  most  places  lies  ten  or  twelve  feet  below  the 
surface.  A  large  portion  of  the  site  of  the  once  proud 
metropolis  is  wholly  deserted  ;  the  great  monuments, 
moss-grown  and  crumbling  except  where  the  solidity  of 


FIG.  31. — A  typical  Roman  house  of  the  twelfth  century,  built  with  odd 

fragments. 

construction  was  such  as  to  defy  Nature  herself,  are  in 
part  turned  to  account  as  habitations,  in  part  exploited 
for  such  building  materials  as  are  of  use  to  the  scanty 
population  of  degenerate  days  (Fig.  31),  in  part  left 
undisturbed  in  the  midst  of  the  wilderness. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

MARBLE-CUTTERS  AND  LIME-BURNERS  OF  MEDIAEVAL 
AND  RENAISSANCE  ROME 

IN  the  exploiting  of  the  Roman  monuments  for  valu- 
able materials  in  mediaeval  and  early  modern  times, 
two  classes  of  workmen  in  particular  wrought  the  most 
serious  damage.  These  were  the  Marmorarii,  or  marble- 
cutters,  and  the  Calcararii,  or  lime-burners. 

The  Roman  marble-cutters,  architects,  sculptors,  and 
mosaic-makers,  whose  work  was  in  a  sense  a  precursor 
of  the  Renaissance,  whose  artistic  creations  still  command 
our  admiration,  are  generally  called  the  "  School  of 
Cosmatis."  The  Cosmatis,  however,  are  only  a  branch 
of  this  great  succession  of  workmen  which  was  founded, 
about  1150,  by  the  Sons  of  Paul,  filii  Pauli.  Lawrence, 
son  of  Cosmas,  the  head  of  the  Cosmati  branch,  flourished 
toward  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  was  followed 
by  five  generations  of  artists  of  the  same  name.  The 
Vassalecti  form  the  third  branch,  which  also  includes 
three  or  four  generations,  from  1153  to  1275 ;  the  last 
branch  is  that  of  Ranuccio  Romano,  with  his  sons  Peter 
and  Nicholas,  his  nephew  John  Guittone,  and  his  grand- 
son John,  who  flourished  from  1143  to  1209. 

180 


MARBLE-CUTTERS   AND   LIME-BURNERS  181 

It  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  here  what  Promis,  Reu- 
mont,  De  Rossi,  Frothingham,  Richter,  Boni,  Mazzanti, 
and  others  have  written  on  the  origin  and  progress  of 
this  great  school  of  marble-cutters.  For  our  purposes 
it  is  sufficient  to  observe  that  for  the  space  of  three 
centuries  the  guild  lived  and  prospered  and  accomplished 
its  work  at  the  expense  of  the  ruins  of  ancient  Rome. 
The  marble-workers  made  excavations  and  destroyed  old 
monuments  with  two  ends  in  view,  to  find  models  and 
to  secure  materials  for  their  work.  They  were  especially 
fond  of  epitaphs  —  whether  pagan  or  Christian  it  mat- 
tered not  —  because  the  thin  slabs  of  marble  on  which 
the  epitaphs  were  inscribed  could  easily  be  adapted  to 
their  purpose,  being  almost  ready  for  use  in  borders 
and  panels  of  mosaic,  ambones,  and  decorative  patterns. 
This  is  the  reason  why  the  floors  of  our  mediaeval 
churches  are  so  rich  in  epigraphic  documents ;  about 
two  hundred  inscriptions  were  used  in  making  the 
pavement  of  SS.  Quattro  Coronati  after  the  destruction 
of  the  church  by  the  Normans,  and  nearly  a  thousand 
were  similarly  turned  to  use  in  the  floor  of  St.  Paul's 
without  the  Walls. 

The  marble-workers  also  inaugurated  an  interprovincial 
and  even  international  traffic  in  Roman  marbles,  which 
flourished  for  two  and  a  half  centuries,  sustained  by  the 
spirit  of  emulation  in  building  which  had  seized  the  cities 
of  Italy.  Each  town  felt  impelled  to  raise  a  church, 
"grand,  beautiful,  magnificent,  whose  just  proportions 


182  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

in  height,  breadth,  and  length  should  so  harmonise  with 
the  details  of  the  decoration  as  to  make  it  decorous  and 
solemn,  and  worthy  of  the  worship  of  Christ  in  hymns 
and  canticles,"  like  the  duomo  of  Siena ;  and  campaniles 
which  should  reach  "even  to  the  stars,"  like  that  of 
Spoleto. 

The  first  influential  voice  heard  in  remonstrance  against 
these  practices  of  the  marble-cutters,  and  the  utter  aban- 
donment of  the  Roman  monuments,  is  that  of  Petrarch. 
His  pungent  remarks  were  addressed  especially  to  the 
nobles,  whom  he  describes  as  following  in  the  path  of 
destruction,  treading  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Goths  and 
the  Vandals.  However,  if  the  patricians  were  to  blame, 
the  middle  and  lower  classes  closely  followed  their 
example.  Temples,  baths,  theatres,  and  palaces  were 
demolished  piecemeal ;  their  marble  ornaments  were 
broken  to  pieces  and  thrown  into  the  lime-kilns,  and 
even  their  walls  overthrown  and  their  foundations  broken 
up  for  the  sake  of  the  stones  or  of  the  bricks  with  which 
they  were  faced.  After  a  time  the  produce  of  this  indus- 
try grew  in  excess  of  the  demand,  and  more  spoils  were 
accumulated  than  could  be  disposed  of  in  the  local  market. 

Some  of  the  facts  connected  with  this  new  phase  in 
the  history  of  the  destruction  of  Rome  are  known  to 
students ;  but  they  have  yet  to  be  properly  grouped 
and  compared.  I  shall  here  offer  only  a  few  observa- 
tions, with  the  hope  that  they  may  induce  others  to 
investigate  the  subject  more  thoroughly.  The  archives 


MARBLE-CUTTERS   AND   LIME-BURNERS  183 

of  our  great  church  buildings  have  yet  to  be  explored  ; 
the  success  achieved  by  Luigi  Fumi  in  examining  the 
documents  connected  with  the  building  of  the  duomo  at 
Orvieto  leads  us  to  hope  that  other  records  may  be  found, 
on  both  sides  of  the  Alps,  by  means  of  which  this  branch 
of  trade  of  mediaeval  Rome  may  be  illustrated. 

The  earliest  instance  of  the  removal  of  marbles  from 
the  Eternal  City  to  distant  lands  dates  from  the  time 
of  King  Theoderic.  In  a  letter  addressed  to  Festus 
the  Patrician,  Cassiodorius,  the  king's  secretary,  orders 
that  the  columns  of  the  Domus  Pinciana  —  an  imperial 
possession  near  the  gate  of  the  same  name  —  should  be 
sent  to  Ravenna. 

The  portion  of  the  cathedral  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  erected 
by  Charlemagne  in  796-804,  and  consecrated  by  Leo  III., 
is  an  octagon  copied  from  S.  Vitale  at  Ravenna,  designed 
and  built  by  Roman  marmorarii.  The  lofty  openings 
of  the  upper  story  are  decorated  with  a  double  row  of 
columns  of  unequal  length,  of  rare  marbles  and  breccias, 
brought  from  Rome,  Treves,  and  Ravenna.1  In  fact, 
the  desire  to  follow  Roman  traditions  was  so  great 
that  the  fountain  in  front  of  the  cathedral  was  actually 
decorated  with  a  brazen  wolf,  like  the  one  which  then 
stood  in  front  of  the  Lateran,  and  with  a  pine  cone, 
like  the  one  which  stood  on  the  fountain  of  Symmachus, 
in  the  atrium  of  St.  Peter's. 

1  The  most  valuable  were  stolen  by  the  French  invaders  in  1794,  but 
restored  at  the  peace  of  1815. 


184  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

The  cathedral  of  Pisa,  begun  in  1063,  and  consecrated 
in  1118  by  Pope  Gelasius  II.,  is  mostly  built  of  marbles 
taken  from  Rome  and  Ostia.  The  workshop  in  which 
the  classic  remains  were  transformed  into  new  shapes 
by  Busketus  and  Ronald,  the  architects  of  the  duomo, 
has  lately  been  found  on  the  banks  of  the  Arno.  Some 
of  the  marbles  actually  bear  the  mark  of  their  origin ; 
one  near  the  southwest  corner  of  the  transept  is  in- 
scribed GENIO  •  COLOXIAE  •  OSTIEXSIS,  "  To  the  Genius 
of  Ostia."  They  also  imported  sarcophagi,  as  that  dis- 
covered in  1742  at  the  foot  of  the  high  altar,  and  now 
preserved  in  the  Camposanto,  inscribed  with  the  name 
of  Marcus  Annius  Proculus,  a  magistrate  and  leading 
citizen  of  Ostia. 

The  inexhaustible  stores  of  Rome  were  resorted  to  for 
the  construction  of  the  cathedrals  of  Lucca  (1060-1070) 
and  of  Monte  Cassino  (1066)  ;  of  those  of  S.  Matteo  at 
Salerno  (1084  ;  Fig.  32),  and  of  S.  Andrea  at  Amalfi 
(eleventh  century)  ;  of  the  baptistery  of  S.  Giovanni 
in  Florence  (begun  in  1100)  ;  of  the  monastery  of  Nostra 
Signora  di  Tergu,  on  the  north  coast  of  Sardinia,  between 
Sorso  and  Castel  Sardo,  of  the  church  of  S.  Francesco  at 
Civita  Vecchia,  of  the  cathedral  of  Orvieto  (1321-1360), 
and  even  of  some  parts  of  Westminster  Abbey.  To 
prove  this  statement  in  the  case  of  some  of  the  buildings 
we  need  no  literary  evidence  ;  the  shape  and  quality  of 
the  marbles,  and  the  inscriptions  engraved  upon  them, 
give  unmistakable  testimony  regarding  their  origin.  Yet 


MARBLE-CUTTERS   AND  LIME-BURNERS  185 

for  Monte  Cassino  we  do  have  the  authority  of  Alphanus 
and  of  Leo  of  Ostia,  who  expressly  state  that  Desiderius 


FIG.  32.  —  The  pulpit  in  the  cathedral  of  S.  Matteo  at  Salerno,  built 
with  marbles  from  Rome. 

purchased  in   Rome  "  columns,   bases,  and   capitals,   and 
marbles  of  various  colours."     These  spoils  were  put  on 


186  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

board  light  coasting  ships  (tartane)  like  those  that  still  sail 
up  the  Tiber  to  the  wharf  of  Ripa  Grande,  and  landed 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Garigliano.  From  the  mouth  of  the 
Garigliario  to  Monte  Cassino  the  work  of  transportation 
was  accomplished  with  teams  of  buffaloes.  One  conse- 
quence of  the  sack  of  1084  was  the  carrying  off  of 
columns  and  marbles  of  various  kinds  by  the  retiring 
army  for  the  adornment  of  the  cathedral  at  Salerno. 

We  are  indebted  to  Luigi  Fumi  for  detailed  informa- 
tion concerning  the  use  of  materials  from  Rome  in  the 
building  of  the  cathedral  at  Orvieto.1  The  first  barge- 
loads  were  shipped  up  the  Tiber,  from  the  quay  of  the 
Ripetta  to  Orte,  in  June,  1316.  For  the  space  of  nearly 
forty  years  the  maestri  deW  Opera  deC  duomo,  or  "  super- 
intendents of  construction,"  sent  their  agents  through 
the  country  around  Rome  in  search  of  blocks  of  marble 
for  their  carvings.  The  ruins  of  Porto  (the  Portus 
Augusti,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber)  were  attacked 
in  May,  1321,  with  the  consent  of  their  owners  ;  those 
of  Ostia,  then  probably  not  subject  to  individual  owner- 
ship, shared  the  same  fate  in  the  following  year  —  the 
centre  of  devastation  being  the  theatre,  the  shattered 
remains  of  which  I  brought  to  light  in  1881. 

In  process  of  time  the  villa  of  Domitian  at  Castel 
Gandolfo,  the  mausoleum  of  Hadrian,  the  portico  of 
Octavia,  the  temple  of  Isis  and  Serapis,  and  the  ruins 
of  Veii  were  in  like  manner  put  to  ransom.  The  docu- 

1  Fumi,  II  duomo  di  Orvieto  ed  i  suoi  restauri,  Rome,  1881. 


MARBLE-CUTTERS   AND   LIME-BURNERS  187 

merits  collected  by  Fumi  give  us  many  details  of  this 
remarkable  trade  in  old  marbles.  Pandolfo  and  Giovanni 
Savelli,  who  had  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  builders  of 
the  cathedral  the  remains  of  the  villa  of  Domitian,  were 
remunerated  with  a  gift  of  pepper,  wax,  and  saffron. 
In  1354,  while  Andrea  di  Ugolino  was  superintending 
the  work,  a  block  of  marble  purchased  for  thirty-five 
florins  was  taken  from  the  colonnade  of  Octavia,  and 
cut  into  the  beautiful  round  window  which  occupies  the 
centre  of  the  fagade.  Other  blocks  were  brought  from 
the  same  source  in  1359,  under  the  mastership  of  Andrea 
d'  Orcagna.  When  search  was  made  in  private  grounds 
a  compensation  was  paid  to  the  owner,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  colonnade  of  Octavia,  and  of  the  temple  of  Isis, 
which  belonged  respectively  to  Alessio  Matrice  and  to 
Paolo  di  Converrone.  If  the  blocks  were  considered 
res  nullius,  a  fee  was  paid  to  the  City  for  the  license  of 
exportation. 

Giacomo  Boni,  in  a  paper  read  at  a  meeting  of  the 
British  and  American  Society  of  Rome,  March  28, 
1893,  makes  an  interesting  statement  regarding  the  use 
of  Roman  materials  in  Westminster  Abbey.  "Among 
the  most  important  works  of  a  Roman  marble-cutter 
still  preserved  in  Westminster  Abbey,"  he  says,  "there 
is  a  small  tomb  bearing  no  inscription,  but  believed  to 
be  of  the  daughter  of  Henry  III.,  who  died  in  1257. 
The  name  of  PETRVS  ROMANVS  civis  is  engraved  in  the 
basement  of  the  shrine  of  Edward  the  Confessor.  Peter, 


188  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

therefore,  must  have  worked  .on  it  toward  1269,  the 
year  in  which  the  relics  of  the  Confessor  were  laid  in 
the  place  of  honour  by  Henry  III.  The  tomb  of  this 
king,  the  second  founder  of  Westminster  Abbey,  erected 
in  1281,  has  nothing  English  about  it,  save  the  grey 
Purbeck  marble.  The  materials  of  which  the  Roman- 
esque pavement  in  front  of  the  high  altar  is  composed 
were  certainly  imported  from  Rome  by  the  Abbot  Richard 
of  Ware.  After  his  election,  which  took  place  in  1258, 
the  abbot  paid  a  visit  to  the  Eternal  City,  and  brought 
back,  as  a  souvenir  of  his  pilgrimage,  some  slabs  of 
porphyry  and  serpentine.  Upon  his  grave  may  be  read 
the  following  words  :  — 

HIC  PORTAT  LAPIDES  QVOS  HVC  PORTAVIT  AB  VRBE, 

that  is  to  say,  he  lies  buried  under  the  red  and  green 
porphyries  (the  essential  element  of  a  Romanesque  pave- 
ment) which  he  brought  himself  from  the  banks  of  the 
Tiber  to  those  of  the  Thames." 

The  attempt  of  Richard  of  Ware  to  transplant  to 
England  a  style  of  work  which  could  only  find  its 
proper  means  of  support  among  the  ruins  of  an  ancient 
city,  was  not  successful ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  —  al- 
though we  yet  lack  material  evidence — that  the  Romans 
found  new  outlets  for  their  trade  to  compensate  for  the 
loss  of  the  English  market. 

In  presenting  this  aspect  of  the  destruction  of  the 
Eternal  City,  I  do  not  wish  to  cast  more  blame  on  the 


MARBLE-CUTTERS  AND  LIME-BURNERS  189 

mediaeval  marble -cutters  than  they  actually  deserve. 
Much  may  be  said  in  extenuation  of  their  treatment  of 
ancient  buildings ;  and  many  instances  of  more  wanton 
destruction  might  be  cited,  from  the  time  of  Nero  to 
our  own  age.  While  the  army  of  Vespasian  was  be- 
sieging the  Capitol,  and  trying  to  scale  its  walls  from 
the  roofs  of  the  nearest  houses,  the  partisans  of  Vitellius 
hurled  bronze  and  marble  statues  on  their  assailants ; 
and  the  garrison  of  Hadrian's  mausoleum,  as  we  have 
seen,  defended  themselves  in  a  similar  manner  during 
the  siege  of  the  Goths.  Self-defence  may  be  urged  as 
a  legitimate  excuse ;  but  I  have  discovered  in  the  State 
archives  a  petition  addressed  on  August  20,  1822,  to 
Pope  Pius  VII.  by  a  building  contractor,  named  Matteo 
Lovatti,  in  which  he  states  that,  to  provide  materials 
for  a  house  he  was  raising  in  the  Piazza  del  Popolo,  he 
would  like  to  destroy  certain  ancient  ruins  opposite  the 
church  of  S.  Maria  in  Dominica.  It  is  astonishing  to 
think  that  such  a  request  could  have  been  addressed  to 
a  man  like  Pope  Pius  VII.,  and  more  so  to  know  that 
the  request  was  granted,  on  the  favourable  report  of 
Visconti,  Fea,  Valadier,  and  Cardinal  Pacca. 

In  1870,  a  few  months  before  Rome  became  the  capital 
of  Italy,  Pope  Pius  IX.  determined  to  raise  a  monu- 
mental column  in  memory  of  the  Ecumenical  Council. 
To  save  time  and  money,  and  the  trouble  of  quarrying 
travertine  from  the  territory  of  Tivoli,  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  best  preserved  gates  of  the  City,  the 


190  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

Porta  Tiburtina  of  Honorius,  was  sacrificed.  The  stones 
of  which  it  was  built  were  sunk  in  the  foundations  of 
the  column,  opposite  the  church  of  S.  Pietro  in  Montorio 
—  all  to  no  purpose,  because  the  events  of  September 
20  of  that  year  made  the  raising  of  the  monument  out 
of  the  question. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Roman  legislation  at  one 
time  imposed  capital  punishment  on  those  who  destroyed 
old  tombs  for  the  sake  of  the  marble  of  which  they  were 
built,  and  that  Constans  substituted  a  fine  for  the  death 
penalty ;  and  that  these  and  similar  provisions  for  a 
time  checked  the  destruction  of  the  tombs  lying  close 
to  the  highways,  while  those  less  exposed  to  view,  or 
standing  on  private  grounds,  were  ruthlessly  sacrificed.1 
The  destruction  did  not  decrease  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  waxed  even  greater  in  the  Renaissance.  Chryso- 
loras,  the  master  of  Poggio  Bracciolini,  says,  referring 
to  marbles  taken  from  this  source :  "  The  statues  lie 
broken  in  fragments,  ready  for  the  lime-kiln,  or  are 
made  use  of  as  building  material.  I  have  seen  many 
used  as  mounting-steps,  or  as  curbstones,  or  as  mangers 
in  stables." 

Public  officials  not  only  tolerated  this  search  for  sculp- 
tured marbles  and  for  limestone,  but  sometimes  claimed 
a  share  in  the  profits.  From  a  document  of  July  1, 
1426,  preserved  in  the  Vatican  archives,2  we  learn  that 

1  See  p.  92.  2  Diversorum,  Vol.  IX.  p.  245. 


MARBLE-CUTTEKS   AND  LIME-BURNERS  191 

the  papal  authorities,  while  giving  a  free  hand  to  a 
company  of  lime-burners  to  destroy  the  Basilica  Julia 
on  the  Sacra  Via  for  the  sake  of  the  blocks  of  traver- 
tine of  which  the  pillars  of  the  nave  and  aisles  were 
built,  reserved  to  themselves  half  the  produce  of  the 
kilns ;  a  present  was  afterward  made  of  the  income 
from  this  source  to  Cardinal  Giacomo  Isolani,  who  was 
then  engaged  in  repairing  his  titular  church  of  S. 
Eustachio.  A  fate  similar  to  that  of  the  Basilica  Julia 
fell  to  the  lot  of  the  tomb  of  Alexander  Severus  at  the 
Monte  del  Grano  ;  thus  perished  also  half  of  the  Coliseum, 
the  arch  of  Lentulus,  the  Circus  Maximus,  the  square 
basement  of  the  mausoleum  of  Caecilia  Metella,  and  a 
hundred  other  monuments,  the  spoils  of  which  served  to 
build  St.  Peter's,  St.  Mark's,  the  Palazzo  di  Corneto,  the 
Palazzo  Farnese,  the  Cancelleria,  the  Villa  Giulia.  "  In 
the  early  years  of  Paul  III."  (1534-1550),  says  De 
Marchi,  "many  torsoes  and  statues  discovered  in  dig- 
ging cellars,  in  planting  gardens  and  vineyards,  and  in 
opening  new  streets,  used  to  be  thrown  into  the  kilns, 
especially  those  sculptured  in  Greek  marble,  on  account 
of  the  wonderful  lime  which  they  produced.  Paul  III. 
issued  most  cruel  regulations  to  the  effect  that  no  one 
should  dare  thus  to  destroy  ancient  statuary  under 
penalty  of  death.  The  result  was  a  steady  increase  in 
the  number  and  value  of  public  and  private  archaeo- 
logical collections  in  Rome."1 

1  See  the  article  by  Miintz  in  Bevue  Archeologique  for  May-June,  1884. 


192  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  these  "  most  cruel  regu- 
lations "  of  Paul  III.  did  not  produce  a  lasting  effect. 
We  may  suppose  that  the  destruction  of  the  masterpieces 
of  Greco-Roman  art  may  have  diminished  for  the  time 
being,  but  it  was  by  no  means  suppressed.  The  spolia- 
tion of  marble  and  stone  edifices  went  on  with  increasing 
activity  to  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century.  We  must 
not  forget  that  another  edict  of  the  same  Pope,  dated 
July  22,  1540,  put  at  the  mercy  of  the  "  deputies "  of 
the  Fabbrica  di  S.  Pietro  all  the  monuments  of  the 
Forum  and  of  the  Sacra  Via ;  and  they  did  not  hesitate 
to  profit  by  the  pontifical  grant  to  the  fullest  possible 
extent. 

Pirro  Ligorio,  the  architect,  discussing  the  best  way 
of  obtaining  a  particularly  fine  plaster,  suggests  the  use 
of  powdered  Parian  marble,  "  obtained  from  the  statues 
which  are  constantly  being  destroyed."1  Flaminio  Vacca, 
after  describing  a  certain  marble  boat  with  figures  on 
it,  found  in  the  Baths  of  Caracalla,  remarks  that  "  as  it 
once  floated  on  water,  so  now  it  has  been  made  to  steer 
its  way  through  fire."  He  makes  a  similar  observation 
with  respect  to  a  statue  found  by  Orazio  Muti,  opposite 
the  church  of  S.  Vitale,  "which  had  been  sent  to  the 
kiln  to  have  the  moisture  taken  off  its  back."2  Thou- 
sands of  inscriptions  have  perished  in  the  same  way. 
Fra  Giocondo  da  Verona,  adducing  testimony  from  his 

1  Ligorio,  Codex  Bodleianus,  p.  17. 

2  Flaminio  Vacca,  Memorie,  edited  by  Fea,  n.  23,  116. 


MARBLE-CUTTERS  AND  LIME-BURNERS  193 

own  experience,  says  that  some  Roman  citizens  boasted 
of  having  had  the  foundations  of  their  houses  and  palaces 
constructed  with  ancient  statues. 

The  headquarters  of  these  destroyers  of  ancient  Rome 
was  at  the  "  Botteghe  Oscure,"  that  is,  in  the  wing  of 
the  Circus  Flaminius  facing  the  street  of  that  name  — 
the  arcades  were  then  in  a  good  state  of  preserva- 
tion, and  high  above  ground;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
there  was  no  great  ruin  of  marble  or  stone  that  did 
not  have  its  own  kiln.  So  important  was  the  exercise 
of  this  industry  of  lime-burning  at  the  Circus  Fla- 
minius that  the  whole  district  received  the  name  of 
Lime-pit  (calcarario,  calcararia).  The  extent  of  the 
area  covered  by  this  designation  can  be  determined  by 
the  site  of  the  churches  of  S.  Nicolaus  in  Calcaria  retro 
Cesarinos,  now  S.  Nicola  ai  Cesarini,  SS.  Quaranta  de 
Calcarario,  now  S.  Francesco  delle  Stimmate,  and  S. 
Lucia  de  Calcarario,  now  S.  Lucia  dei  Ginnasi ;  there 
was  also  a  spring  named  II  Calcarario,  in  the  Piazza 
dell'  Olmo. 

Other  famous  kilns  were  those  of  S.  Adriano,  for  the 
burning  of  the  marbles  of  the  Imperial  Forums ;  of  the 
Ayosta,  fed  with  the  spoils  of  the  mausoleum  of  Augus- 
tus ;  and  of  La  Pigna,  supplied  with  materials  from  the 
Baths  of  Agrippa  and  the  temple  of  Isis.  Then  there 
were  temporary  establishments  opened  near  this  or  that 
edifice,  which  were  abandoned  as  soon  as  the  supply  was 
exhausted.  We  must  class  among  these  the  kilns  by 


194  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

the  Baths  of  Diocletian,  mentioned  by  Flaminio  Vacca ; 
those  of  the  villa  of  Livia  at  Prima  Porta,  mentioned 
by  Pirro  Ligorio ;  those  of  the  necropolis  between  the 
Via  Latina  and  the  Via  Appia,  seen  by  Marini ;  those 
of  the  Regia,  described  by  Panvinio,  and  those  of  the 
Basilica  Julia,  and  of  the  temple  of  Venus  and  Rome, 
discovered  by  Nibby  and  by  myself.1 

Outside  the  City  the  burning  of  lime  was  practised 
for  many  years  among  the  ruins  of  Ostia  and  Porto. 
The  oldest  record  bearing  upon  the  matter,  that  is 
known  to  me,  is  a  document  of  Celestine  III.,  dated 
March  30,  1191,  where  mention  is  made  of  a  "  locus  qui 
vocatur  calcaria  extra  portam  non  longe  ab  Hostiensi 
civitate"2  The  exercise  of  this  trade  continued  without 
interruption  and  with  the  tacit,  if  not  open,  approval  of 
the  papal  authorities,  down  to  the  pontificate  of  Pius  VII. 
Fea  relates  the  following  incident :  "  To  the  insatiable 
greed "  of  Giuseppe  Vitelli,  tenant  of  the  farm  at  Ostia 
in  the  year  1816,  "is  due  the  disappearance  of  some 
miles  of  the  paving  of  the  ancient  Ostian  way,  which 
was  in  a  most  excellent  state  of  preservation,  as  well 
as  the  destruction  of  many  large  pieces  of  carved  cor- 
nice from  the  temple  of  Vulcan,  a  masterpiece  of  the 
time  of  Hadrian.  .  .  .  He  broke  the  latter  into  frag- 

1  Flaminio  Vacca,  Memorie,  104 ;   Ligorio,   Codex  Neapolitanus,  29 ; 
Marini,  Inscriptiones  alb.  X.;    Pauvinio,   see    C.  I.  L.  Vol.  I.  p.  415; 
Bull,  del  lust.,  1871,  p.  244. 

2  Bullarium  Vaticanum,  Vol.  III.  p.  75. 


MARBLE-CUTTERS  AND  LIME-BURNERS 


195 


ments  to  make  liine  in  a  kiln  close  by ;  but  I  suc- 
ceeded in  stopping  him  before  the  fagots  were  set  on 
fire."  The  fragments  thus  rescued  from  the  flames  are 
still  shown  on  the  spot  (Fig.  33).  Other  pieces'of  this 
exquisite  entablature  had  been  destroyed  in  1427,  before 
the  eyes  of  Poggio  Bracciolini  and  Cosimo  de'  Medici. 
Similar  kilns  were  discovered  in  1796  by  Robert  Fagan, 
not  far  from  the  temple. 


FIG.  33.  —  Fragments  of  cornice  from  the  temple  of  Vulcan,  at  Ostia, 
rescued  from  a  lime-kiln  by  Fea. 

I  have  myself  had  no  small  experience  in  tracing  the 
results  of  the  operations  of  the  lime-burners ;  in  fact, 
none  of  the  important  excavations  with  which  I  have 
been  connected,  either  in  Rome  or  on  neighbouring  sites, 
has  failed  to  bring  to  light  remains  of  one  or  more  lime- 
kilns. I  mention  two  examples  as  specially  worthy  of 
note. 

A   lime-kiln  was  found  in  the  palace  of  Tiberius  on 


196  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

the  Palatine  hill  by  Rosa,  in  1869.  It  was  filled  to  the 
brim  with  fine  works  of  art,  some  calcined,  some  intact. 
Among  the  latter  were  the  veiled  bust  of  Claudius,  now 
in  the  Museo  delle  Terme ;  a  head  of  Nero ;  three  cary- 
atides, in  nero  antico ;  the  exquisite  little  statuette  of 
an  ephebus  in  black  basalt,  published  by  Hauser  in  the 
Mittheilungen  for  1895,  p.  97-119,  pi.  1 ;  a  head  of  Har- 
pocrates,  and  other  minor  fragments. 

In  February,  1883,  in  the  excavations  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Atrium  of  Vesta,  a  pile  of  marble  was  found 
about  14  feet  long,  9  feet  wide,  and  7  feet  high.  It 
was  wholly  made  up  of  statues  of  the  Vestales  maximae, 
some  unbroken,  others  in  fragments.  The  statues  and 
fragments  had  been  carefully  packed  together,  leaving 
as  few  interstices  as  possible  between  them,  and  the 
spaces  formed  by  the  curves  of  the  bodies  were  filled  in 
with  chips.  There  were  eight  nearly  perfect  statues,  and 
we  were  agreeably  surprised  to  find  among  the  broken 
ones  the  lower  part  of  the  lovely  seated  Vesta  with  the 
footstool,  which  alas !  is  now  hardly  recognisable,  owing 
to  the  number  of  years  it  has  been  left  exposed  in  the 
dampest  corner  of  the  Atrium.  There  were  present  at 
this  remarkable  discovery,  which  took  place  at  6.30  A.M. 
on  February  9,  only  four  people  besides  the  workmen, 
—  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia,  afterward  the  Emperor 
Frederick  II.,  Dr.  Henzen,  one  of  my  colleagues,  and 
myself ;  and  I  distinctly  remember  how  the  prince,  then 
in  the  full  vigour  of  health  and  strength,  helped  the 


MARBLE-CUTTERS   AND  LIME-BURNERS  197 

workmen  to  raise  the  masses  of  marble  and  to  set  the 
statues  up  against  the  wall  of  the  atrium.  That  was 
the  golden  age  of  Roman  excavation,  and  we  recall  it 
as  if  it  were  a  dream !  These  beautiful  statues  had 
been  piled  into  a  regular  oblong,  like  a  cord  of  wood, 
by  some  diggers  of  marbles,  who  had  carefully  filled 
the  spaces  between  the  statues  as  they  lay  side  by  side, 
in  order  that  no  empty  spaces  might  be  left.  By  what 
fortunate  accident  these  sculptures  were  preserved  it  is 
difficult  to  guess ;  but  one  thing  at  least  is  certain  — 
a  great  quantity  of  other  marbles  belonging  to  the 
House  of  the  Vestals  must  have  perished  by  fire.  Two 
kilns  and  two  deposits  of  lime  and  of  charcoal  were 
found  in  the  course  of  the  same  excavations.1 

1  See  Notizie  degli  Scavi,  December,  1883,  p.  54. 


CHAPTER   XVII 
THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   THE   MODERN   CITY 

IN  the  fourteenth  century  Rome  was  still  mediaeval ; 
in  the  fifteenth  it  began  to  be  slowly  transformed  into 
a  modern  city.  While  the  seat  of  the  papacy  was 
at  Avignon  (1305-1377),  three-quarters  of  the  space 
within  the  walls  was  put  under  cultivation.  The  in- 
habitants, stricken  with  fever  and  poverty,  lived  like 
their  prehistoric  ancestors  in  mud  huts  with  thatched 
roofs,  and  quenched  their  thirst  with  the  waters  of  the 
Tiber.  We  are  told  that  in  the  year  1377,  on  the 
return  of  Gregory  XI.  from  Avignon,  there  were  only 
17,000  people  in  the  entire  area.  Whether  the  figure 
is  exact  or  not,  the  men  who  remained  faithful  to  their 
native  soil  deserve  the  gratitude  of  mankind.  Without 
them  the  site  of  Rome,  completely  deserted,  might  now 
have  to  be  pointed  out  to  the  inquiring  stranger  as  that 
of  Veii,  of  Fidenae,  of  Ostia,  and  of  Tusculum. 

In  the  abandoned  parts  of  the  City  a  remnant  of  life 
could  be  found  in  the  churches  and  fortified  monas- 
teries of  the  Caelian,  Esquiline,  and  Aventine  hills, 
as  that  of  S.  Balbina,  which  retained  its  mediaeval 
character  until  its  "  modernisation "  in  1884.  Vines 

198 


THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   THE   MODERN   CITY  199 

and  olive  trees  grew  in  the  halls  of  the  imperial  palace 
on  the  Palatine,  and  cattle  grazed  again  on  the  site  of 
the  Forum,  as  in  the  days  of  Evander.  Here  and  there 
stood  the  dismantled  ruins  of  baronial  houses  destroyed 
by  the  victor  of  the  day ;  other  quarters  —  the  Campo 
Torrecchiano,  for  instance  —  were  bristling  with  square 
brick  towers,  loopholed  and  battlemented,  obtrusive 
proof  of  perpetual  warfare  and  bloodshed.  The  strong- 
holds of  the  Normanni,  Papi,  Romani,  Stefaneschi, 
Anicii,  and  Anguillara  dominated  the  region  of  Tras- 
tevere,  while  those  of  the  Pierleoni  commanded  the 
entrance  to  the  Ponte  di  Santa  Maria  (the  ancient 
Pons  Aemilius,  now  Ponte  Rotto),  and  those  of  the 
Frangipani  the  island  of  S.  Bartolomeo  (Fig.  34). 

The  ruins  of  the  amphitheatre  of  Statilius  Taurus 
(Monte  Giordano),  and  of  Pompey's  theatre  (Campo  di 
Fiori),  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Orsini.  The  Savelli 
had  supplanted  the  Pierleoni  in  the  possession  of  the 
theatre  of  Marcellus  (Monte  Savello).  The  Colonna 
family  occupied  a  fortified  enclosure  in  the  abandoned 
quarter  about  Trajan's  Forum,  with  the  centre  of  their 
stronghold  at  the  temple  of  the  Sun  on  the  Quirinal 
(Villa  Colonna),  while  the  mausoleum  of  Augustus  and 
the  hill  of  Monte  Citorio,  strongly  garrisoned,  were  util- 
ised by  them  as  detached  forts.  One  of  their  towers, 
at  the  corner  of  the  Via  Tre  Cannelli  and  Via  Nazionale, 
is  still  standing ;  there  are  also  towers  of  the  Mellini 
and  Sanguigni  near  the  Stadium,  of  the  Sinibaldi  and 


200  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

Crescenzi  near  the  Pantheon.  These  ugly  square  struc- 
tures were  raised  to  protect  the  residences  of  the  barons, 
which  had  not  the  aspect  of  a  palace,  but  of  a  cluster 


FIG.  34. —  House  and  tower  of  the  Margani. 


TEE   BEGINNINGS   OF   THE   MODERN  CITY  201 

of  low,  narrow  dwellings,  enclosed  by  a  battlemented 
wall.  Around  them  lived  the  vassals  and  partisans, 
who  every  night  barred  with  chains  the  surrounding 
lanes.  The  great  fortress  of  the  Frangipani  covered 
the  southern  half  of  the  Palatine,  the  core  of  the  forti- 
fication being  the  Septizonium  ;  and  this  family  had  out- 
posts also  at  the  Coliseum,  at  the  Turns  Cartularia,  at 
the  Janus  Quadrifrons  of  the  Forum  Boarium,  and  at 
the  arches  of  Titus  and  Constantino . 

The  great  Torre  de'  Conti,  erected  by  Nicholas  I. 
about  858,  and  rebuilt  by  Innocent  III.  in  1216,  was 
called  by  Petrarch  Turris  toto  orbe  unica  from  its  pro- 
digious height  and  strength.  It  commanded  the  district 
of  the  Carinae  and  of  the  Subura.  The  upper  part 
having  collapsed  during  the  earthquake  of  1348,  Pope 
Urban  VIII.  pulled  down  the  rest,  as  far  as  the  top  of 
the  lowest  of  the  three  stories.  Much  better  preserved 
is  the  Torre  delle  Milizie,  the  construction  of  which  was 
popularly  attributed  to  Nero.  It  was  very  likely  built 
by  Pandolfo  della  Suburra  in  1210.  In  the  second  half 
of  the  same  century  it  became  the  property  of  the 
Annibaldi,  and  later  passed  into  the  possession  of  the 
Caetani. 

The  aspect  of  Rome  in  those  days  may  be  compared 
with  that  of  S.  Geminiano  to-day.  In  many  parts  there 
were  towers  crowned  with  battlements  and  with  iron 
brackets  for  signal  fires  (Fig.  35).  Their  number  was 
so  great  that  a  district  of  the  City  on  the  slopes  and 


202 


DESTRUCTION   OF   ANCIENT   ROME 


at  the  foot  of  the  Oppian  hill  was  actually  called   the 
Campo  Torrecchiano. 

All    sense    of   the    beautiful,   all    appreciation    of    art, 


FIG,  35.  —  A  lane  of  mediaeval  Rome —  Via  della  Lungarina,  demolished 

in  1877. 


THE   BEGINNINGS  OF  THE   MODERN  CITY  203 

seems  to  have  been  lost  for  a  time  among  the  Romans. 
While  other  cities  in  Italy  were  raising  churches,  town 
halls,  exchanges,  fountains,  palaces,  and  splendid  private 
houses  which  command  admiration  at  the  present  day 
on  account  of  the  graceful  simplicity  of  their  propor- 
tions and  the  finish  of  their  work,  the  builders  at  Rome 
did  little  more  than  pile  up  and  jumble  together  frag- 
ments of  older  structures,  without  regard  to  form  or 
fitness.  Tivoli,  Viterbo,  and  even  Corneto,  were  in  this 
period  far  superior  to  Rome  in  their  public  and  domestic 
architecture.  They  can  point  to  splendid  examples  of 
the  skill  and  taste  of  their  master  masons  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  while  we  Romans  have  absolutely  nothing 
to  show  that  is  comparable.  Every  trace  of  the  local 
influence  of  the  Cosmatesque  School  seems  to  have  dis- 
appeared before  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
When,  therefore,  interest  in  artistic  construction  began 
to  revive,  as  the  handicrafts  which  form  the  auxiliaries 
of  art  no  longer  existed  in  the  City,  artisans  from  other 
parts  of  Italy,  especially  from  Tuscany,  Umbria,  and  the 
region  of  the  lakes  of  Como  and  Lugano,  had  to  be 
summoned  to  Rome. 

The  first  impulse  toward  the  rebuilding  of  the  City 
was  given  by  Eugene  IV.,  who  occupied  the  chair  of 
St.  Peter  from  1431  to  1447.  A  splendid  memorial  of 
Paul  II.  (1464-1471)  is  the  palace  of  St.  Mark,  now 
called  Palazzo  Venezia.  Under  the  pontificates  of  Paul's 
successors,  Sixtus  IV.,  Innocent  VIII.  (1484-1492),  and 


204  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

Alexander  VI.  (1492-1503),  Baccio  Pontelli  carried  to 
Rome  the  artistic  traditions  of  Brunelleschi,  and  erected 
successively  the  churches  of  S.  Maria  del  Popolo,  S.  Pie- 
tro  in  Montorio,  S.  Agostino,  S.  Maria  della  Pace,  the 
Sistine  chapel,  the  facades  of  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli  and 
of  the  SS.  Apostoli,  the  hospital  of  S.  Spirito,  the 
palace  of  the  Governo  Vecchio,  and  the  great  court  of 
the  pontifical  palace,  near  the  church  of  S.  Maria  Mag- 
giore,  which  was  recently  destroyed.  To  B  ram  ante  we 
owe  the  beautiful  court  of  S.  Damaso  in  the  Vatican, 
the  Belvedere,  the  galleries  connecting  this  last  with  the 
pontifical  residence,  the  round  temple  in  the  cloisters 
of  S.  Pietro  in  Montorio,  and  the  palaces  of  the  Riario 
(now  the  Cancelleria)  and  of  Cardinal  di  Corneto,  now 
Torlonia-Giraud. 

The  aspect  of  the  City  was  considerably  changed  by 
the  erection  of  these  buildings.  Early  in  the  fifteenth 
century  the  modern  spirit,  so  methodical  in  all  things 
and  so  fond  of  straight  lines,  began  to  manifest  itself 
in  the  cutting  of  spacious  streets  through  the  ruins  and 
rambling  habitations  of  the  City.  By  a  bull  dated 
March  30,  1425,  Martin  V.  reestablished  the  office  of  the 
commissioners  of  streets  (magistri  viaruni).  Eugene  IV. 
straightened  and  paved  several  of  the  lanes  in  the 
Campus  Martius ;  Nicholas  V.  the  Via  di  S.  Celso  (now 
Via  de'  Banchi);  and  Paul  II.  paved  the  Corso  between 
the  Arco  di  Portogallo  near  S.  Lorenzo  in  Lucina,  and 
the  Piazza  Venezia.  Sixtus  IV,  was  named  "the  great 


THE   BEGINNINGS  OF  THE   MODERN   CITY  205 

builder "  {gran  fablricatore),  on  account  of  the  many 
improvements  made  under  his  rule ;  and  Alexander  VI. 
carried  the  Via  Alexandrina  through  the  Borgo. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  these  improvements  in  the 
material  aspect  and  welfare  of  the  City  involved  great 
losses  on  the  archaeological  and  historical  side.  With- 
out entering  into  particulars  regarding  the  extent  of 
the  transformation,  which  will  be  fully  given  in  my 
volumes  on  the  Storia  degli  Scavi  di  Roma,  it  will  be 
sufficient  for  our  purpose  to  follow  Poggio  Bracciolini 
in  his  ride  through  the  City  in  1447,  the  year  of  the 
election  of  Nicholas  V.  Beginning  with  the  Capitol, 
Poggio  describes  the  southern  platform  of  the  hill, 
where  the  Caffarelli  palace  now  stands,  as  covered  with 
the  colossal  remains  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter ;  but  a 
few  decades  later  columns,  capitals,  and  frieze  had  dis- 
appeared so  completely  that  archaeologists  since  then 
have  found  serious  difficulty  in  determining  which  of 
the  two  summits  of  the  hill  was  occupied  by  the  Capito- 
lium  and  which  by  the  Citadel.  Speaking  of  the  temple 
of  Isis  and  Serapis,  near  the  church  of  La  Minerva, 
Poggio  mentions  two  interesting  particulars.  He  says 
that  a  local  gardener  in  planting  a  tree  had  lately  dis- 
covered a  head  of  one  of  the  colossal  river-gods,  which, 
together  with  other  recumbent  figures,  once  lined  the 
dromos  of  the  temple,  but  being  annoyed  by  the  curios- 
ity of  the  people,  who  rushed  to  see  his  find,  at  once 
covered  it  up  again.  He  also  speaks  of  the  remains  of 


206  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

a  portico  with  many  columns,  either  lying  on  the 
ground  or  half  buried  under  the  ruins  of  -the  temple. 
Some  of  these  columns  were  removed  in  December, 
1451,  to  the  Loggia  of  the  Benediction  at  St.  Peter's, 
'under  the  skilful  management  of  the  engineer  from 
Bologna,  Maestro  Aristotile  di  Fioravante  degli  Alberti. 

Of  the  temple  of  Concord,  Poggio  says  that  when  he 
first  visited  Rome  in  1431  the  front  portico,  facing  the 
Forum,  was  almost  intact;  but  that  later  the  whole 
temple  with  a  part  of  the  portico  was  destroyed.  Simi- 
lar instances  of  wanton  destruction  are  recorded  by  him 
in  the  case  of  portions  of  the  Coliseum,  as  well  as  of 
the  remains  at  Ostia  and  other  suburban  places. 

The  general  practice  followed  by  these  fifteenth  cen- 
tury builders,  whether  popes,  cardinals,  patricians,  or 
simple  citizens,  was  this:  Before  commencing  their  work 
they  would  secure  the  possession  of  a  petraia,  that  is, 
an  ancient  structure  or  part  of  a  structure,  from  which 
they  could  obtain  materials  of  construction,  lime  and 
ornamental  marbles.  There  is  no  edifice  in  Rome  dating 
from  the  fifteenth  century  the  erection  of  which  did  not 
simultaneously  carry  with  it  the  destruction  or  the 
mutilation  of  some  ancient  structure.  I  add  a  few 
instances. 

When  Martin  V.,  in  July,  1425,  undertook  the  laying 
of  the  beautiful  cosmatesque  pavement  of  St.  John 
Lateran,  Antonio  Picardi  and  Nicolao  Bellini,  contrac- 
tors for  the  work,  received  the  Pope's  permission  to 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE   MODERN  CITY  207 

strip  of  their  marbles  all  the  churches,  "both  within 
and  without  the  City,"  in  which  divine  service  was  no 
longer  celebrated.  Apparently  the  contractors  gave  to 
the  grant  a  very  broad  interpretation,  and  laid  hands  not 
only  on  abandoned  places  of  worship,  but  on  the  very 
tomb  of  the  prince  of  the  apostles.  In  a  brief  of  March 
29,  1436,  Eugene  IV.  complains  that  some  precious  slabs 
of  porphyry  and  serpentine  had  been  wrenched  off  from 
the  pontifical  chair,  which  was,  as  it  were,  "the  altar  of 
the  most  blessed  Peter ! "  The  same  Pope  issued  a 
second  brief  for  the  protection  of  the  Coliseum  against 
the  "diggers  of  marbles";  and  yet  I  find  that  stones 
from  the  Coliseum  were  used  by  him  in  the  restoration 
of  the  apse  of  St.  John  Lateran,  and  marbles  from  the 
Curia  and  the  Forum  Julium  in  the  restoration  of  the 
Apostolic  palace. 

The  monuments  which  suffered  the  most  under  the 
rule  of  Nicholas  V.  are  the  Coliseum,  the  Circus  Maxi- 
mus,  the  Curia,  and  the  temple  of  Venus  and  Home. 
A  document  of  1452 1  certifies  that  one  contractor  alone, 
Giovanni  Paglia  Lombardo,  was  allowed  to  remove  from 
the  Coliseum  2522  cartloads  of  travertine  in  the  space 
of  only  nine  months.  The  temple  of  Venus  and  Rome 
was  worked  as  a  quarry  from  1450  to  1454,  the  porphyry 
columns  of  both  cellae  being  used  as  lining  for  the  lime- 
kilns on  account  of  their  refractory  qualities.  The  same 
Pope  destroyed  the  triumphal  arch  of  Gratian,  Valen- 

1  Published  by  Miiiitz  in  Revue  Archeologique,  September,  1876. 


208  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

tinian,  and  Theodosius,  by  the  church  of  S.  Celso  in 
Banchi,  in  order  to  widen  the  Piazza  di  Ponte  S.  Angelo ; 
and  he  built  also  the  foundations  of  the  two  expiatory 
chapels  at  the  entrance  to  the  same  bridge  with  statues 
and  ornamental  marbles  from  the  mausoleum  of  Hadrian. 
In  1456  twenty  blocks  of  rare  marble  were  removed  from 
Ostia  to  Orvieto  and  made  use  of  in  the  decoration  of 
the  facade  of  the  Duomo. 

The  building  of  the  Loggia  of  the  Benediction  at  St. 
Peter's,  the  masterpiece  of  the  time  of  Pius  II.,  caused 
more  damage  to  ancient  monuments  than  a  barbaric  in- 
vasion. Materials  were  extracted  and  lime  obtained 
from  the  Coliseum,  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus, 
the  Forum  Julium,  the  Senate-house,  the  bridge  of  Nero, 
the  Palatiolum  on  the  hill  of  S.  Spirito,  the  temple  of  the 
Dea  Dia  on  the  Via  Campana,  the  portico  of  Octavia, 
the  Baths  of  Caracalla,  the  templum  Sacrae  Urbis 
(SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano),  the  ruins  of  Ostia,  the  Mil- 
vian  bridge,  and  the  massive  tombs  of  the  Via  Flaminia 
near  the  farmhouses  of  Valca  and  Valchetta.  The  next 
Pope,  Paul  II.,  built  the  palace  of  St.  Mark  with  the 
spoils  of  the  temple  of  Claudius  on  the  Caelian,  of  the 
Coliseum,  of  a  temple  near  S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  of 
the  tombs  of  the  Via  Flaminia,  of  the  Septa  Julia,  and 
of  an  unknown  travertine  building  (the  Gaianum  ?)  in 
the  vineyard  of  the  banker  Tommaso  Spinelli ;  and  he 
raised  the  beautiful  Castello  at  Tivoli  with  materials 
taken  from  the  Amphitheatre.  Nevertheless,  the  genial 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  MODERN  CITY 


209 


Aeneas  Silvio  Piccolomini  issued  his  famous  brief  of 
April  28,  1462,  commencing,  u  Cum  almam  nostrum 
urbem^  in  which  he  threatened  heavy  penalties  and 
the  pontifical  wrath  against  the  destroyers  of  ancient 
remains. 

Of  Sixtus  IV.  we  have  two  briefs  that  are  important 
for  our  subject.  One  is  dated  December  17,  1471 ; 
it  authorises  "the  architects  of  the  Vatican  library  to 
make  excavations  anywhere  in  order  to  secure  the  stone 


FIG.  36.  —  The  Porta  del  Popolo  of  the  time  of  Sixtus  IV.    From  a  sketch  by 
M.  Heemskerk  (1536). 

needed  "  for  the  work.1  The  other,  dated  April  7,  1474, 
inflicts  "the  greater  excommunication"  on  those  who 
remove  marbles  from  "  the  patriarchal  and  other  churches 
and  basilicas."  The  beautiful  round  temple  of  Hercules 
Victor,  the  tutelary  god  of  the  charioteers  of  the  circus, 
which  stood  near  the  Ara  Maxima  and  the  Forum  Bo- 
*  arium,  was  one  of  the  monuments  destroyed  under  the 
rule  of  this  pontiff.  The  two  square  towers  on  either 
side  of  the  Porta  del  Popolo  (Fig.  36)  were  built  in  the 

1  Miintz,  Les  Arts  a  la  cour  des  Popes,  Vol.  III.  p.  15. 


210 


DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 


same  pontificate  with  marbles  from  the  tombs  of  Aelius 
Gutta  Calpurnianus,  the  famous  charioteer  (Fig.  37); 
of  Lucius  Nonius  Asprenas,  consul  A.D.  6 ;  of  Valerius 
Nicias ;  of  a  patrician  lady  named  Postuma,  and  from 
an  unknown  tomb  of  pyramidal  shape  which  stood  on 
the  site  of  the  present  church  of  S.  Maria  de'  Miracoli. 
Altogether  250  large  marble  blocks  were  used  in  the 
building  of  the  two  bastions.1 


Fier37.  — Reliefs  from  the  tomb  of  Calpurniaiius,  the  charioteer. 

The  list  for  this  century  closes  with  the  destruction 
of  a  triumphal  arch  (called  arcus  novus)  near  S.  Maria 
in  Via  Lata,  the  materials  of  which  were  used  by  Inno- 
cent VIII.  in  the  restoration  of  this  church,  and  the 
removal  of  the  great  pyramid  of  the  Borgo  —  the  so- 
called  Meta  Romuli2  —  which  was  accomplished  by  Alex- 
ander VI.  in  the  widening  and  straightening  of  the 
Via  Alexandrina.  The  same  Pope  built  a  round  tower 
near  the  gate  of  the  castle  of  S.  Angelo  with  the  marble 
frieze  and  veneering  of  Hadrian's  mausoleum. 

1  Visconti  in  Bull.  Com.,  1877,  p.  185  sq.  2  See  p.  178. 


THE   BEGINNINGS  OF  THE   MODERN  CITY  211 

Among  the  palaces  built  by  private  individuals  during 
this  century  I  shall  mention  only  two,  —  the  palace 
of  Cardinal  Adriano  di  Corneto,  now  Torlonia-Giraud, 
which  was  built  with  the  spoils  of  the  Basilica  Julia 
and  of  the  four-faced  temple  of  Janus;  and  the  Palazzo 
della  Cancelleria,  built  by  Cardinal  Riario  with  stone 
from  the  Coliseum  and  with  marbles  from  the  triumphal 
arch  of  Gordianus,  near  the  Praetorian  camp. 

Before  passing  to  the  disastrous  sack  of  Rome  by  the 
army  of  Charles  of  Bourbon,  I  must  remark  that  the 
first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century  showed  a  decided 
improvement  in  the  increasing  appreciation  of  the  value 
of  certain  classes  of  ancient  monuments  on  the  part  of 
such  popes  as  Julius  II.  and  Leo  X.,  and  such  private 
individuals  as  Raphael  and  his  archaeological  advisers, 
Fabio  Calvo  da  Ravenna  and  Andrea  Fulvio.  Statuary 
and  inscriptions  were  especially  prized.  The  finding  of 
the  Laocoon  among  the  ruins  of  the  house  of  Titus  on 
the  Oppian  seems  to  have  struck  with  amazement  the 
Pope,  the  court,  the  artists,  in  fact  the  whole  population. 
A  general  search  for  works  of  sculpture  was  afterward 
instituted,  in  the  course  of  which  the  remains  of  old 
buildings  suffered  great  damage.  The  science  of  topog- 
raphy was  in  its  infancy,  and  the  importance  of  pre- 
serving ancient  buildings  was  slow  to  be  recognised. 

The  last  years  of  Alexander  VI.,  who  died  in  1503, 
were  marked  by  the  destruction  of  a  portion  of  the  Baths 
of  Diocletian,  of  an  unknown  temple  on  the  Sacra  Via, 


212  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

and  of  the  Forum  Transitorium.1  Julius  II.,  his  suc- 
cessor (1503-1513),  was  too  much  absorbed  in  military 
operations  to  give  much  attention  to  the  remains  of 
ancient  Rome.  However,  he  took  up  in  earnest  the  re- 
construction of  the  Constantinian  Basilica  of  St.  Peter's. 
Since  the  time  of  Nicholas  V.  fears  had  been  entertained 
for  the  safety  of  the  building,  and  Leon  Battista  Alberti 
and  Bernardo  Rossellino  had  been  commissioned  to  pre- 
pare plans  for  its  reconstruction.  The  work  was  pro- 
gressing very  slowly  when  Julius  II.  gave  it  a  new 
impulse,  placing  it  under  the  direction  of  Bramante, 
who  entered  upon  his  duties  in  1503. 2 

Bramante's  design  was  to  substitute  for  the  old  church, 
of  a  pure  basilica  type,  an  edifice  in  the  form  of  a  Greek 
cross,  with  a  hexastyle  portico  in  front,  and  an  immense 
cupola  over  the  centre  supported  by  four  great  piers. 
Julius  II.  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Greek  cross  in  1506 
under  the  pier  now  called  della  Veronica.  The  four  piers 
and  the  arches  which  spring  from  them  were  the  only 
parts  of  the  structure  completed  at  the  time  of  the  Pope's 
death.  The  loss  occasioned  to  art,  history,  and  Christian 
antiquities  by  the  destruction  of  the  venerable  basilica 
is  simply  incalculable.  The  west  half  of  the  greatest 
temple  of  Christendom  was  levelled  to  the  ground  with 
all  its  precious  decorations  in  mosaic,  fresco,  sculpture, 

1  Jahrbuch  fur  Kunst  und  Wiss.,  Vol.  IV.  p.  70. 

2  Curiously  enough,  the  old  St.  Peter's  appears  in  Jenichen's  Pano- 
ramic View    of    Rome,    engraved    more    than    half    a    century    later 
(Frontispiece). 


THE   BEGINNINGS   OF  THE   MODERN  CITY  213 

in  marble  and  in  wood,  with  its  historical  inscriptions 
and  its  pontifical  tombs,  among  which  were  those  of 
Celestine  IV.  (f  1243),  Gregory  IX.  (f  1241),  Boniface 
IX.  Cj-1404),  Innocent  VII.  (f  1406),  Eugene  IV. 
(|1447),  and  Nicholas  V.  (f  1455). 

Three  other  churches  also  disappeared  in  the  pontificate 
of  Julius  II.:  the  old  titulus  Marcelli,  which  collapsed 
on  the  night  of  May  23,  1509 ;  the  church  of  S.  Donatus, 
demolished  for  the  opening  of  the  Via  Giulia ;  and  the 
church  of  SS.  Celso  e  Giuliano  in  Banchi,  which  was 
destroyed  to  widen  the  Piazza  di  Ponte. 

No  great  losses  are  recorded  under  the  rule  of  Leo  X., 
who,  on  September  2,  1517,  issued  a  bull,  written  in 
classic  language,  for  the  encouragement  of  those  who 
might  be  willing  to  raise  new  edifices,  "to  the  end  that 
the  City  of  Rome  might  increase  in  size  and  in  dignity 
by  reason  of  additions  to  its  buildings  and  its  popula- 
tion." The  Via  di  Ripetta  and  the  Via  d'  Aracoeli  were 
opened  by  the 'same  pontiff.  The  only  act  of  vandalism 
which  can  be  brought  home  to  him  is  the  destruction  of 
a  certain  part  of  the  Via  Tiburtina,  called  La  Quadrata, 
the  embankment  of  which  was  supported  by  great  walls 
of  travertine.  The  stones  were  removed  to  St.  Peter's. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE   SACKING  OF   ROME   BY   THE   ARMY   OF    CHARLES 
OF   BOURBON   IN   1527 

THE  sacking  of  Rome  in  1527  was  a  calamity  com- 
parable only  with  the  burning  of  the  City  by  the 
Gauls  in  390  B.C.,  and  the  destruction  caused  by  the 
Normans  in  1084. 

One  of  the  familiar  lullabies  sung  to-day  over  the 
cradles  of  restless  children  begins  with  the  words  :  "  Fatti 
la  ninna,  e  passa  via  Barbone !  "  Go  to  sleep,  Barbone 
is  gone,"  the  name  Barbone,  "  the  man  with  the  long 
beard,"  having  usurped  that  of  the  hated  conqueror. 
So  persistent  is  the  memory  of  those  days  of  terror  ! 

Charles  of  Bourbon,  the  remorseless  leader  of  a  cruel 
army,  appeared  before  the  crumbling  walls  of  the  Leo- 
nine City  May  5,  1527,  and  placed  his  headquarters  in 
the  convent  of  S.  Onofrio,  opposite  the  gate  of  S.  Spirito 
(Fig.  38).  Although  he  himself  fell  the  victim  of  a 
stray  shot  early  on  the  following  day,  his  forces,  com- 
prising twenty  thousand  Germans,  fourteen  thousand 
Italians,  and  six  thousand  Spaniards,  succeeded  in 
storming  the  Borgo  while  the  Pope  was  seeking  shelter 
in  the  castle  of  S.  Angelo.  The  pillage  of  the  City, 

214 


SACK  OF   1527  217 

with  unspeakable  horrors,  lasted  eight  days,  from  the 
6th  to  the  14th  of  May.  In  so  short  a  time  the  treas- 
ures collected  in  the  Roman  palaces,  churches,  and  con- 
vents, during  the  lapse  of  centuries,  were  dispersed. 

The  sacred  precincts  of  St.  Peter's  fared  worse  at 
the  hands  of  the  Catholic  Spaniards  and  Lombards 
than  they  had  at  the  hands  of  the  Saracens  in  846. 
The  Spaniards  searched  every  tomb.  They  stripped 
the  corpse  of  Julius  II.  of  its  pontifical  vestments ; 
they  gambled  with  their  booty,  and  rested  themselves 
by  lying  stretched  out  on  the  venerable  altars;  they 
used  the  chalices  of  marvellous  mediaeval  workman- 
ship as  drinking  cups,  in  company  with  profligate 
women;  and  they  stabled  their  horses  in  the  aisles 
of  the  sanctuary,  preparing  their  litters  with  precious 
manuscripts  collected  by  Pius  II.  and  Sixtus  IV.  The 
stained  glass  windows  of  Guillaume  de  Marcillat  were 
broken  into  bits,  and  the  Flemish  tapestries  designed 
by  Raphael  were  stolen  for  the  sake  of  their  gold 
threads. 

The  fate  of  these  world-famous  tapestries  is  closely 
connected  with  that  of  the  City,  and  throws  light 
on  the  vicissitudes  to  which  relics  of  antiquity  in 
Rome  have  been  exposed  in  these  later  centuries. 
Pope  Leo  X.,  thirteen  years  before  these  events,  had 
given  Raphael  a  commission  to  draw  cartoons  illustrat- 
ing scenes  from  the  New  Testament.  The  cartoons 
were  copied  in  tapestry  by  Bernhard  van  Orlay  and 


218  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

Michael  Coxie,  and  the  priceless  fabrics  thus  produced 
were  exhibited  in  the  Sistine  chapel  on  certain  church 
festivals.  The  tapestries  were  stolen  by  the  lansquenets, 
and  were  carried  off  with  other  spoils  from  the  Vati- 
can. In  1553,  however,  they  came  into  the  posses- 
sion of  Anne  de  Montmorency,  who  restored  them  to 
their  legitimate  owner ;  but  some  of  them  were  lost 
forever. 

Even  the  tapestries  that  had  been  preserved  to  this 
time  were  not  to  be  spared  further  vicissitudes.  They 
experienced  perhaps  a  worse  treatment  in  1798  at  the 
hands  of  the  French  invaders,  when  they  were  sold  for 
a  nominal  sum  to  a  Genoese  Jew.  He  burnt  one  of 
them  for  the  sake  of  the  gold  and  silver  threads,  of 
which  Van  Orlay  had  made  use  in  weaving  the  bright 
lights,  but  the  profits  did  not  meet  his  expectations. 
Pius  VII.  bought  the  rest  back  in  1808.  During  the 
siege  of  Rome  in  1849  they  were  exposed  to  injury  for 
the  third  time  from  General  Oudinot's  artillery.  Two 
cannon-balls  entered  the  gallery  where  the  tapestries 
were  hung ;  one  fell  on  the  floor,  and  the  other  burst 
directly  in  front  of  the  one  portraying  the  Miraculous 
Draught  of  Fishes. 

If  we  recall  the  vast  collections  of  objects  of  value 
which  the  piety  of  the  faithful  had  heaped  up  in  the 
sacristies  of  Roman  churches  during  the  preceding 
centuries,  we  can  appreciate  the  losses  of  the  month 
of  May,  1527.  Sacred  vessels  of  small  size  were  packed 


SACK  OF  1527  219 

in  sacks  and  carried  off ;  others  which  could  not  be 
removed  were  destroyed,  and  the  most  precious  relics 
were  treated  with  contumely.  The  busts  of  St.  Peter 
and  of  St.  Paul,  the  head  of  St.  Andrew,1  and  that 
of  John  the  Presbyter  were  stolen  respectively  from 
their  shrines  in  the  Lateran,  in  the  Vatican,  and  in 
the  church  of  S.  Silvestro  in  Capite.  A  German 
soldier  hoisted  on  the  point  of  his  lance  the  spear 
which  was  believed  to  be  the  one  with  which  Longinus 
had  pierced  the  side  of  the  Redeemer  on  the  cross ;  it 
had  been  presented  to  Pope  Innocent  VII.  by  Bay- 
azed  II.,  and  was  preserved  in  the  famous  shrine  of  the 
Santa  Lancia,  a  masterpiece  of  the  school  of  Mino  da 
Fiesole,  destroyed  by  Paul  V.  in  1606.  The  vail,  said 
to  have  belonged  to  St.  Veronica,  and  to  bear  the 
impression  of  the  Saviour's  features,  was  dragged  from 
tavern  to  tavern  among  the  jeerings  and  taunts  of  the 
drunken  soldiery.2  The  cross  of  Constantine,  which 
hung  over  the  Apostle's  tomb  in  St.  Peter's,  was  tossed 
in  the  mud  of  the  Via  di  Borgo  and  trampled  under 

1  The  head  of  St.  Andrew  was  stolen  again  in  1848  and  hidden  in  a 
recess  of  the  city  walls  between  the  Porta  Cavalleggeri  and  the  Porta 
S.  Pancrazio.     A  marble  statue  erected  by  Pius  IX.   marks  the  spot 
where  the  relic  was  re-discovered  in  1850. 

2  This  relic,  the  first  one  which  the  pilgrims  sought  on  their  visit  ad 
limina,  was  kept  in  a  shrine  built  by  John  VII.    The  shrine  was  de- 
stroyed in  1606,  together  with  its  priceless  mosaic  pictures.     The  image 
of  the  Virgin  alone  was  saved  by  Cardinal  Pallotta,  who  made  a  present 
of  it  to  the  Ricci  of  Florence.     It  is  now  preserved  in  the  chapel  of  that 
family  in  the  church  of  S.  Marco. 


220  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

foot.  Even  the  chapel  of  St.  Lawrence  in  the  Lateran 
palace,  the  most  august  shrine  of  the  Catholic  world, 
was  profaned  and  stripped  of  all  its  contents. 

Furniture,  pictures,  and  works  of  art  of  every  descrip- 
tion were  destroyed  in  private  houses  and  palaces ; 
pearls  and  precious  stones  were  apportioned  among  the 
German  mercenaries  by  spoonfuls,  the  share  of  an  ordi- 
nary soldier  in  the  booty  being  from  three  to  four  thou- 
sand ducats.  Exquisite  refinements  of  cruelty  were 
devised  to  extort  money  from  persons  suspected  of  hav- 
ing concealed  it.  The  old  Cardinal  Ponzetta,  although 
a  partisan  of  the  Emperor,  was  held  for  a  ransom  of 
twenty  thousand  ducats,  and  afterward  dragged  through 
the  streets  of  the  City  with  his  hands  tied  behind  him ; 
he  died  soon  after  in  great  destitution.  Another  cardi- 
nal, Cristoforo  Numalio,  was  torn  from  the  bed  where 
he  was  lying  ill,  placed  on  a  hearse,  and  dragged  in  pro- 
cession in  his  ecclesiastical  robes.  Drunken  soldiers 
and  profligate  women  surrounded  the  bier,  brandishing 
torches  and  vociferating  infamous  songs  in  imitation  of 
priestly  canticles.  Thus  the  unfortunate  old  man  was 
carried  into  the  church  of  the  Aracoeli  and  lowered 
into  a  crypt,  to  be  buried  alive  unless  a  fresh  ransom 
should  be  paid.  Friends  came  to  his  rescue  at  the 
last  moment. 

Still  more  unhappy  was  the  fate  of  a  priest  whose 
name  ought  to  be  enrolled  in  the  list  of  heroes.  A  group 
of  drunken  soldiers  had  dressed  a  donkey  in  sacerdotal 


SACK  OF   1527  221 

robes  and  made  it  kneel  before  a  street  shrine.  Having 
caught  hold  of  a  priest,  they  tried  to  force  him  to  ad- 
minister the  holy  communion  to  the  brute.  The  good 
old  man,  to  save  the  Host  from  such  profanation,  swal- 
lowed it  before  they  could  prevent  him,  and  suffered 
from  those  demons  in  human  flesh  one  of  the  most  hor- 
rible martyrdoms  recorded  in  the  history  of  persecutions. 
The  loss  sustained  by  the  City  in  those  eventful  days 
has  been  valued  at  seven  or  eight  million  of  ducats  by 
Scaramuccia  Trivulzio,  cardinal  of  Como ;  at  fifteen  by 
Ulloa,  the  biographer  of  Charles  V.  ;  while  Gregorovius, 
in  estimating  this  loss,  mentions  a  sum  of  twenty  millions 
of  florins  —  nearly  a  million  and  a  half  pounds  sterling,  or 
between  seven  and  eight  millions  of  dollars. 

In  the  light  of  these  barbarities,  it  is  not  surprising 
to  find  that  Giovio,  Cappella,  Brantome,  and  others 
assert  that  many  ancient  statues,  the  work  of  Greek 
chisels,  were  mutilated  or  destroyed ;  that  Raphael's 
frescoes  in  the  Stanze  and  those  of  Pinturicchio  in  the 
Sale  Borgia  of  the  Vatican  were  deliberately  injured  by 
the  smoke  of  bonfires  lighted  in  the  middle  of  the  halls ; 
that  the  very  tomb  of  St.  Peter,  deep  under  the  apse  of 
the  Constantinian  Basilica,  was  broken  into,  and  the 
remains  of  the  Apostle  scattered  to  the  four  winds ; 
but  these  statements,  if  not  altogether  incorrect,  are  at 
least  exaggerated. 

We  have  quite  definite  information  regarding  the  num- 
ber and  the  quality  of  the  statues  discovered  and  ex- 


222  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

hibited  in  Roman  palaces  and  villas  before  1527.  Chief 
among  them  were  the  recumbent  colossal  figures  of  the 
Nile  and  of  the  Tiber,  found  at  the  time  of  Leo  X.  among 
the  ruins  of  the  temple  of  Isis ;  the  Commodus  with  the 
attributes  of  Hercules  (Heracles  and  Telephos),  found 
on  May  15,  1507,  in  the  Piazza  di  Campo  di  Fiori  and 
removed  to  the  Belvedere  gardens  by  Julius  II.;  a  torso 
of  Heracles  in  the  possession  of  the  Colonnas ;  another — 
the  torso  of  the  Belvedere  —  discovered  in  1513  under 
the  Ciampolini  house  at  the  Campo  di  Fiori,  and  re- 
moved to  the  Vatican  by  Clement  VII.;  the  Sleeping 
Ariadne,  whose  place  of  discovery  is  not  known ;  the 
Belvedere  Apollo,  found,  not  at  Antium,  as  is  usually 
stated,  but  on  a  farm  of  Cardinal  Giuliano  della  Rovere, 
near  Grotta  Ferrata ;  and  the  Laocoon  group,  found  on 
January  14,  1506,  by  Felice  de  Fredis  in  his  vineyard 
on  the  Oppian  hill.  There  were  also  the  bronze  works 
of  art  presented  to  the  Senate  and  Roman  people  by 
Sixtus  IV.  and  exhibited  in  the  Palazzo  dei  Conservatori ; 
the  statue  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  now  on  the  Capitoline 
hill;  the  marble  horse-tamers,  the  three  Constantines, 
and  the  two  river-gods  of  the  Quirinal. 

All  these  marbles  and  bronzes  have  come  down  to  us 
uninjured  except  one,  the  Heracles  of  the  Colonna  palace, 
which  has  disappeared;  and  the  frescoes  of  Raphael,  as 
well  as  those  of  Pinturicchio,  are  still  to  be  seen.  In 
examining  these  last,  when  the  Sale  Borgia  were  reopened 
three  years  ago  by  order  of  Leo  XIII. ,  I  observed  German 


SACK  OF  1527  223 

names  scratched  with  a  pointed  instrument,  whether  a 
sword  or  knife  I  could  not  tell,  on  the  lower  surface  of 
the  wall ;  but  whether  they  are  names  of  the  mercenaries 
of  Charles  V.  or  of  more  peaceful  visitors  of  later  times 
I  am  unable  to  say  (Fig.  39). 


FIG.  39.  —  One  of  the  Sale  Borgia  —  that  of  the  "Vita  della  Madonna"  —  in 

the  Vatican. 


Reissner  asserts  that  the  right  arm  of  the  central  figure 
of  the  Laocoon  group  must  have  been  broken  off  after 
it  was  discovered ;  but  it  is  a  fact  quite  generally  known 
that  the  arm  was  missing  at  the  time  of  discover}^. 
The  assertion  of  a  letter  published  some  years  ago  by 


224  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

I.  Mayerhofer  in  the  Historisches  Jahrbuch  (1891,  p.  751) 
that  the  tomb  of  St.  Peter  was  violated  during  the  sack 
of  1527,  has  been  distinctly  contradicted  by  Grisar.1 
The  letter  was  written  by  Theodoric  Vafer  (alias  Ge- 
scheid),  and  bears  the  date  of  June  17,  1527.  "  The 
soldiers,"  the  writer  says,  "  have  profaned  every  church 
in  Rome,  and  have  slaughtered  their  victims  on  the 
altars  of  the  apostles;  they  have  broken  the  coffins,  or 
urns,  containing  the  relics  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
and  dispersed  the  precious  dust ;  they  have  stolen  the 
sacred  vessels  used  in  the  divine  service,"  etc.  Professor 
Grisar  thinks  that  we  ought  not  to  take  too  literally  the 
expressions  of  a  man  writing  under  the  excitement  of 
the  appalling  disaster ;  certainly  not  one  of  the  hundreds 
of  descriptions  by  eye-witnesses  of  the  events  agrees 
with  this  statement. 

Interesting  discoveries  have  from  time  to  time  been 
made  in  connexion  with  this  sack  of  the  City. 

A  diarist  of  the  last  century,  named  Cecconi,  relates 
that  in  1705  a  treasure  of  sixty  thousand  scudi  was 
found  in  the  cellars  of  the  Palazzo  Verospi  on  the 
Corso,  where  it  had  been  concealed  in  1527.  Again, 
on  the  morning  of  June  1,  1879,  an  apprentice  mason 
engaged  in  repairing  the  drain  of  a  house  at  No.  23, 
Via  della  Stelletta,  found  a  shiny  piece  of  metal,  and 
put  it  in  his  pocket  waiting  for  a  chance  to  show  it  to 
a  connoisseur.  In  the  meanwhile  the  dirt  from  the  drain 

1  See  Le  tombe  Apostoliche  di  Roma,  Roina,  1892,  p.  27,  n.  40. 


SACK  OF  1627  225 

was  carted  away  in  the  direction  of  the  Porta  Angelica. 
The  lad  was  caught  in  the  act  of  receiving  twenty  francs 
for  his  piece  from  a  goldsmith  opposite.  Search  was 
made  at  once  on  the  spot,  and  142  gold  coins  were  found 
in  and  near  the  drain.  Policemen  were  sent  after  the 
carts.  They  overtook  these  outside  the  Porta  Angelica, 
examined  the  contents,  and  found  forty-two  more  pieces, 
to  the  great  amazement  of  the  drivers,  who  had  no  idea 
that  they  were  removing  gold  from  such  an  unexpected 
mine.  One  hundred  and  eighty-four  gold  pieces  had 
therefore  been  concealed  in  the  drain  of  the  house  during 
or  immediately  before  the  pillage  of  1527.  The  date  is 
certain  :  the  coins  bear  the  effigy,  the  coat  of  arms,  and 
the  legend  of  Pius  II.,  who  died  in  1464 ;  of  Innocent 
VIII.,  who  died  in  1492;  of  Alexander  VI.,  who  died 
in  1503;  and  of  other  predecessors  of  Clement  VII., 
under  whose  pontificate  the  pillage  took  place.  The 
coins  of  Clement  VII.  himself  amount  to  one-third  of 
the  whole  number.1 

The  hiding-place  of  chief  importance  is  the  bed  of  the 
Tiber ;  for,  rather  than  allow  their  treasures  to  be  seized 
by  the  invaders,  the  Romans  threw  their  valuables  into 
the  arms  of  Father  Tiber,  who  gathered  them  in  his 
muddy  treasury,  and  has  preserved  them  to  our  day. 

1  At  the  time  of  the  discovery  it  was  asserted  that  a  coin  with  the 
effigy  and  name  of  Paul  III.  had  been  seen  in  the  treasure-trove,  a  fact 
that,  if  substantiated,  would  place  the  concealment  of  this  gold  at  a  later 
period  than  the  sack.     I  have  not  been  able  to  see  the  coin  in  question. 
Q 


226  DESTRUCTION   OF   ANCIENT   ROME 

When,  in  1877,  the  works  connected  with  the  construc- 
tion of  the  embankments  along  the  river  and  the  widen- 
ing and  deepening  of  its  bed  began,  I  made  it  a  point 
to  ascertain  the  comparative  depth  of  the  various  finds 
with  a  view  to  determining  the  stratification  of  the 
objects  of  every  description  at  the  bottom.  The  task 
was  not  easy,  because  more  dredgers  were  kept  at  work 
and  more  compressed-air  caissons  were  sunk  at  the  same 
time  than  one  could  watch  personally,  and,  in  such  deli- 
cate inquiries,  personal  observation  is  necessary. 

Comparing  the  notes  taken  from  1878  to  1889,  I  have 
come  to  the  following  result :  that  if  we  leave  out  of  ac- 
count the  miscellaneous  objects  which  may  pertain  to  any 
age  and  hence  are  not  conclusive,  the  archaeological  strata 
of  the  Tiber  correspond  with  considerable  regularity  to 
the  leading  catastrophes  in  the  history  of  Rome.  The 
objects  with  which  the  dredgers  first  came  into  contact 
recall  the  revolution  of  1848-1849,  and  bear  witness  to 
the  haste  with  which  compromising  objects,  as  republican 
symbols  and  weapons  of  every  kind,  were  made  to  disap- 
pear as  soon  as  General  Oudinot  had  become  the  master 
of  the  City.  The  next  important  layer  seems  to  corre- 
spond with  the  French  invasion  of  1798-1799;  and  the 
third  from  the  top  yields  as  its  harvest  innumerable 
mementoes  of  the  sack  of  Charles  of  Bourbon. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

THE  MONUMENTS  IX  THE   LATTER  PART   OF  THE 
SIXTEENTH   CENTURY 

THE  wretched  state  of  Rome  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  sixteenth  century  is  hardly  concealed  beneath  the 
superficial  brilliancy  of  the  Renaissance.  The  following 
facts,  which  I  have  gathered  at  random  from  contem- 
porary records,  cast  light  upon  the  condition  of  things. 

In  April,  1566,  Pius  V.  directed  the  cardinals  Crispo, 
di  Montepulciano,  and  Sforza  "to  see  that  the  streets 
of  Rome  are  promptly  cleaned,  so  that  when  the  heat 
of  summer  comes  the  air  shall  not  be  tainted."  Ap- 
parently, no  attempt  to  clean  the  streets  had  been 
made  for  years.  As  the  country  roads  were  only  re- 
paired four  times  each  century,  in  the  years  of  Jubilee, 
so  the  streets  were  only  cleaned  on  great  occasions,  as 
when  a  newly  elected  pope  rode  in  state  to  the  Lateran 
to  take  possession  of  his  chair.  To  illustrate  another 
aspect  of  the  administration,  I  may  mention  the  curious 
means  adopted  by  Pius  IV.  and  the  City  government 
to  diminish  vagrancy.  They  determined  that  "the 
magistrates  at  the  head  of  the  thirteen  wards  of  the 
City,  accompanied  by  thirteen  gentlemen  chosen  by 

227 


228  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT   ROME 

the  Council — one  for  each  region  —  should  go  around 
their  parishes  once  a  month  with  the  almsbox  "  (July  8, 
1562).  The  feast  of  the  Birth-day  of  Rome,  the  glori- 
ous Palilia,  on  the  twenty-first  of  April,  was  no  longer 
celebrated,  for  lack  of  money,  but  in  1549  a  revival 
was  proposed  on  the  ground  that  "some  gentlemen 
had  said  that  they  were  willing  to  contribute  from 
their  private  purse "  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the 
celebration. 

In  justice  to  the  City  magistrates  of  this  period,  we 
must  acknowledge  that,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  preser- 
vation of  the  ancient  monuments,  their  behaviour  was 
very  different  from  that  of  the  popes  and  of  the 
Apostolic  Chamber.  While  the  papal  authorities  had 
officially  sanctioned  and  encouraged  the  destruction  of 
classic  remains,  particularly  by  a  bull  of  Paul  III. 
dated  July  22,  1540,  the  municipal  officials  never  ceased 
to  raise  their  voice  in  favour  of  their  preservation, 
and  to  protest  against  the  shameful  deeds  of  the  com- 
missioners for  the  "Fabbrica  di  S.  Pietro."  Their 
love  and  reverence  for  the  alma  parens  was  never 
crushed  by  untoward  events.  This  attitude  of  mind 
was  so  consistent  and  unvarying  that  in  the  many  hun- 
dred volumes  of  Records  which  I  have  consulted  in  the 
municipal  archives,  I  have  found  no  trace  of  any  oppo- 
sition to  projects  connected  with  the  safeguarding  of 
the  classic  remains,  or  with  the  increase  of  the  archaeo- 
logical collections  of  the  Capitoline  Museum.  On  the 


FIG.  40.  —  Bas-reliefs  from  the  arch  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  removed  from  the 
church  of  S.  Martina  in  1525,  now  in  the  Conservator!  Palace. 


THE   MONUMENTS   IN  THE   SIXTEENTH   CENTURY      231 

contrary,  regard  for  the  glories  of  the  past  was  at 
times  carried  to  an  extreme,  and  the  City  Council  now 
and  then  transformed  itself,  as  it  were,  into  an  academy 
of  humanists.  Even  allowing  that  this  overzealous 
devotion  to  antiquity  might  justly  be  criticised,  we  are 
compelled  to  admire  the  patriotism  of  the  City  officials, 
for  in  the  cause  of  art  they  forgot  all  else — present 
trials,  gloomy  prospects  for  the  future,  and  sometimes, 
also,  we  must  confess,  the  sense  of  justice ;  thus  in  March, 
1525,  they  took  away  from  the  rector  of  the  church 
of  S.  Martina  the  bas-reliefs  from  the  arch  of  Marcus 
Aurelius,1  now  on  the  landing  of  the  staircase  of  the 
Conservatori  Palace,  without  allowing  him  any  com- 
pensation (Fig.  40). 

In  1538,  after  320  scudi  had  been  laboriously  col- 
lected from  the  Cerrini  and  other  defaulters  and  crimi- 
nals in  the  district  of  Cori,  the  City  Council  voted  that 
"of  the  said  sum  of  320  scudi  a  portion  should  be 
devoted  to  the  setting  up  of  the  equestrian  statue  of 
M.  Antonius  (sz'c),  according  to  the  design  of  Master 
Michael  Angelo,  sculptor,  and  another  portion  to  the 
building  of  the  substruction  walls  of  the  Piazza  del 
Campidoglio."  The  equestrian  statue  referred  to  is  the 
bronze  Marcus  Aurelius  which  was  then  set  up  in  the 
square  of  the  Capitol,  where  it  has  remained  ever  since. 
In  the  Middle  Ages  it  had  stood  near  the  Lateran 
(Fig.  42);  and  its  preservation  is  thought  to  have  been 

i  C.  /.  L.  VI.  1014. 


232  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

due  to  the  belief  that  it  was  a  statue  of  Constantino, 
the  first  Christian  Emperor. 

The  interest  of  the  municipal  authorities  in  the  pres- 
ervation of  statuary  is  illustrated  also  by  the  following 
incident.  When  Pius  IV.,  in  1561,  urged  the  Munici- 
pality to  complete  in  timber  the  unfinished  portion  of 
the  bridge  of  Santa  Maria  (now  called  the  Ponte  Rotto), 
the  Council  hesitated  to  accept  the  suggestion  until 
Monsignor  Rufino  guaranteed  "  to  reimburse  the  Muni- 
cipality in  the  sum  of  2000  scudi  if  the  plan  should  not 
succeed."  It  happened  that  the  repairs  were  not  suc- 
cessful, and  the  City  commenced  proceedings  against 
Monsignor  Rutino  for  reimbursement  of  the  money. 
After  paying  640  scudi,  he  asked  the  City  to  accept  in 
settlement  of  the  balance  due  them  "two  beautiful 
statues,"  to  be  valued  by  experts,  for  the  decoration  of 
the  new  Capitoline  buildings.  The  proposal  was  ac- 
cepted, and  Mario  Frangipani  and  Tommaso  de'  Cava- 
lieri  were  appointed  appraisers  with  power  to  choose  a 
third  appraiser  to  assist  them.  The  statues  are  still 
to  be  seen,  on  either  side  of  the  vestibule  of  the  Con- 
servatori  Palace.  They  are  colossal  in  size,  both 
found,  according  to  a  somewhat  doubtful  tradition, 
in  the  Forum  Julium.  The  one  on  the  right  represents 
Julius  Caesar ;  that  on  the  left,  a  victorious  Roman 
admiral. 

In  December,  1584,  the  restoration  of  the  colossal 
statues  of  Castor  and  Pollux  came  to  a  standstill  on 


THE  MONUMENTS  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY      233 

account  of  the  lack  of  funds.  In  order  to  provide  the 
means  to  complete  the  work  the  Council  farmed  out  the 
office  of  public  notary  for  two  of  the  wards  of  the  City, 


FIG.  41.  —  The  statues  of  Castor  and  Pollux  on  the  Capitoline  hill,  restored  in 

1584. 


the  Rione  di  Ripa  and  the  Curia  Capitolina,  and  the 
statues  were  set  in  the  places  which  they  now  occupy 
(Fig.  41). 

In  1576,  in  spite  of  the  emptying  of  the  treasury  to 


234  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  EOME 

defray  the  expenses  of  the  Jubilee  of  1575,  the  City 
fathers  voted  a  large  sum,  for  those  days,  to  bring  the 
dispute  regarding  the  possession  of  the  Lex  Regia  to  a 
satisfactory  conclusion.  This  famous  document  is  a 
copy,  engraved  in  bronze,  of  the  decree  by  which  the 
"  Senate  and  the  Roman  people "  conferred  the  imperial 
power  on  Vespasian.  The  tablet  had  been  used  by 
Boniface  VIII.  in  the  construction  of  an  altar  in 
St.  John  Lateran,  and  set  so  awkwardly  that  it  could 
hardly  be  read.  Cola  di  Rienzi,  in  1346,  caused  it  to 
be  taken  from  its  hiding-place  and  set  up  in  the  nave, 
where,  showing  it  to  his  fellow-citizens,  he  was  wont  to 
speak  fiery  words  on  the  right  of  the  people  to  choose 
their  own  form  of  government.  The  efforts  of  the 
municipality  to  secure  the  valuable  document  had  always 
failed,  owing  to  the  opposition  of  the  Canons  of  the 
Lateran.  Compelled  at  last  by  a  decree  of  the  Pope  to 
take  some  action,  the  Canons  voted  to  commit  the  pre- 
cious tablet  to  the  guardian  care  of  "  the  Roman  people," 
and  as  they  begged  that  they  might  receive  something 
in  return,  the  Council,  out  of  gratitude,  gave  them  200 
gold  scudi  on  condition  that  they  purchase  a  silver  ewer 
and  basin  and  a  pair  of  candelabra  for  use  in  the  basilica. 
The  200  scudi  were  secured  by  pawning  certain  objects 
of  value  belonging  to  the  City. 

In  the  minutes  of  the  City  Council  for  May  17,  1580, 
I  find  the  following  statement  :  "  It  is  clearly  seen  that 
the  antiquities  of  Rome  are  disappearing  every  day,  on 


THE   MONUMENTS  IN  THE   SIXTEENTH   CENTURY    235 

account  of  the  search  for  marbles,  which  is  carried  on 
in  the  most  reckless  manner,  with  no  regard  to  the 
preservation  of  the  ruins  themselves.  We  have  a 
recent  instance  of  this  in  the  Palazzo  Maggiore  (the 
palace  of  the  Caesars)  where  the  most  beautiful  halls 
have  been  undermined  so  as  to  require  new  founda- 
tions and  buttresses  to  be  kept  standing."  A  deputa- 
tion was  sent  to  Pope  Gregory  XIII.,  instructed  to  ask 
him  to  revoke  all  grants  given  by  the  Apostolic  Cham- 
ber "for  the  procuring  of  marble  and  travertine  from 
the  ancient  ruins  of  the  City,  even  for  the  Fabbrica 
di  S.  Pietro  and  the  church  of  the  Prince  of  the 
Apostles."  The  result  of  this  interview  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  by  another  apostolic  brief  the  destruc- 
tive powers  of  the  Fabbrica  di  S.  Pietro  were  extended 
to  the  ruins  of  Ostia  and  Porto. 

In  the  Autobiography  of  Cardinal  Giovanni  Antonio 
Santori,  edited  by  Professor  Cugnoni,1  a  characteristic 
instance  is  given  of  the  way  that  Sixtus  V.  dealt  with 
ancient  monuments.  "  Seeing  that  the  Pope  was  quite 
bent  on  the  destruction  of  the  antiquities  of  Rome,"  says 
the  Cardinal,  "many  Roman  noblemen  came  to  beg  me 
to  try  to  persuade  his  Holiness  to  abandon  his  strange 
purpose,  particularly  as  he  cherished  the  intention  of 
destroying  the  Septizonium  (as  he  afterward  did),  the 
Velabrum  (that  is,  the  four-faced  arch  of  the  Forum 

i  See  Vol.  XII.  p.  372,  and  Vol.  XIII.  p.  151,  of  the  Archivio  della 
Societa  reale  di  Storia  patria. 


236  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  HOME 

Boarium),  and  the  Capo  di  Bove,"  which  we  know  as 
the  tomb  of  Caecilia  Metella,  that  rare  and  splendid 
monument  of  the  Republic.  "  I  made  this  request  in 
company  with  Cardinal  Colonna,  and  received  the  reply 
that  he  wished  to  remove  the  unsightly  ruins  in  order 
to  repair  those  that  required  it."  And  indeed,  in  May, 
1589,  Giovanni  Battista  Mottino  and  Girolamo  Leni  and 
his  brothers  had  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  permission 
from  Cardinal  di  Montalto,  the  Pope's  Camarlingo,  to  pull 
down  the  mausoleum  of  Caecilia  Metella.  The  rescript, 
however,  contained  a  provision :  "  Our  Sovereign  Lord 
and  Master  grants  the  concession,  provided  that  the 
Roman  people  are  content."  This  clause  saved  the 
monument,  as  I  will  show  ;  but  I  think  it  worth  while 
to  give  here  the  exact  words  of  the  request  made  to 
the  Pope,  so  characteristic  is  it  of  the  spirit  of  the 
age  :  - 

"Gio.  Battista  Mottino,  and  Girolamo  Leni  and  his 
brothers,  are  the  owners  of  the  farm-lands  of  Capo  di 
Bove,  where  there  is  a  tomb,  or  tower,  which  it  would 
be  very  advantageous  to  them  to  dismantle.  They 
therefore  humbly  pray  your  Holiness  that  they  may 
be  granted  permission  in  such  a  way  that  the  gentle- 
men of  the  City  Council  (Signori  Conservator!)  cannot 
oppose  it  by  saying  it  is  an  antiquity,  which  they 
ought  not  to  say,  as  it  is  out  of  Rome  and  not  in  a 
public  place,  and  others  have  been  dismantled,  one  on 
the  road  to  Tivoli,  another  of  marble  at  Ponte  dell' 


THE  MONUMENTS  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY     237 

Arco,  yet  another  at  Casal  Rotonno,  and  many  others.1 
If  your  Holiness  will  make  this  concession  we  think 
that  the  Roman  people  (popolo  Romano)  will  do 
likewise  to  please  him,  and  thus  all  we  receive  will 
be  by  the  special  favour  of  our  Master,  and  we 
will  unceasingly  pray  God  for  his  preservation,  and 
that  a  long  and  happy  life  be  granted  to  your 
Excellency." 

The  "popolo  Romano,"  on  whom  Cardinal  di  Mont- 
alto  had  sought  to  lay  the  responsibility,  at  first  hesi- 
tated, and  the  work  of  demolition  began,  but  so 
numerous  and  serious  were  the  remonstrances  that,  on 
the  motion  of  Paolo  Lancellotti,  seconded  by  his  col- 
leagues, Ottavio  Gabrielli,  and  Alessandro  Gottifredi, 
the  Municipal  Council  cancelled  the  permission,  and  so 
the  tomb  of  Metella  was  saved.  This  occurrence,  and 
others  of  the  same  nature,  possibly  account  for  the 
change  of  feeling  among  the  people  toward  Sixtus  V. 
Those  same  magistrates  who  had  ordered  the  erection 
of  a  statue  to  him,  November  26,  1585,  to  commemo- 
rate the  return  of  peace  and  plenty,  thus  announce 
the  death  of  the  Pope  to  the  Council  on  Monday, 
August  24,  1590  :  "  To-day,  our  most  Holy  Lord,  Pope 

1  I  cannot  quite  make  out  which  tomb  on  Via  Tiburtina  is  alluded  to 
in  this  petition  of  Mottino  and  his  friends  ;  perhaps  it  is  that  described  in 
Cod.  Vat.  3439,  f.  35.  The  antiquita  al  ponte  delV  Arco  is  the  tomb  of 
M.  Antonius  Antius  Lupus,  about  which  see  Bull.  Com.,  1891,  p.  221. 
The  mausoleum  of  Aurelius  Cotta  still  bears  the  characteristic  name 
given  it  in  the  memorial  (Casal  Rotondo). 


238  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

Sixtus  V.,  has  departed  this  life,  amidst  the  rejoicings 
and  mutual  congratulations  of  all  classes  of  citizens."1 

But  Sixtus  V.  was  great  in  everything,  in  his  friend- 
ship and  in  his  enmity,  in  his  modesty  and  in  his 
magnificence,  in  the  benefits  he  conferred  on  the  Eter- 
nal City,  and  in  the  contempt  he  professed  toward 
the  classic  ruins.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  more  correct 
to  say  toward  some  classic  ruins,  for  we  cannot  forget 
that,  in  spite  of  so  many  acts  of  destruction,  we  owe 
to  him  the  restoration  of  the  columns  of  Trajan  and 
of  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  of  the  Horse-tamers  of  the 
Quirinal,  the  discovery  and  reerection  of  three  obelisks, 
the  removal  of  the  Vatican  obelisk  to  a  more  suitable 
place,  and  the  renovation  of  the  whole  City. 

The  demolition  of  the  Septizonium  of  Septimius 
Severus  took  place  in  the  winter  of  1588-1589,  under 
the  direction  of  the  Pope's  favourite  architect,  Do- 
menico  Fontana.  Some  905  scudi  were  expended  in 
the  work,  but  the  valuable  materials  recovered,  blocks 
of  peperino  and  travertine,  and  columns  of  rare 
marbles,  more  than  offset  the  expenditure.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  see  what  became  of  the  spoils  of  this 
famous  building,  the  loss  of  which  archaeologists  have 
regretted  more  than  of  almost  any  other  in  Rome. 

"Thirty-three  blocks  of  stone,"  I  have  stated  else- 
where, "  were  used  in  the  foundation  of  the  pedestal  of 

1  Hodie  sanctissimus  dominus  noster,  Syxtus  papa  qtdntus,  omnibtis 
congratulantibus  et  maxima  omnium  laetitia,  diem  suum  clausit  extremum. 


THE  MONUMENTS  IN  THE   SIXTEENTH   CENTURY      239 

the  obelisk  in  the  Piazza  del  Popolo;  104  of  marble  in 
the  restoration  of  the  column  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  in- 
cluding the  base  of  the  bronze  statue  of  St.  Paul ;  15 
in  the  tomb  of  the  Pope  in  the  Cappella  del  Presepio, 
at  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  and  an  equal  number  in  that  of 
Pius  V.  The  staircase  of  the  Casa  dei  Mendicanti,  or 
workhouse,  by  the  Ponte  Sisto,  and  that  of  the  Trinita 
de'  Monti,  the  wash-house  (lavatore)  in  the  Baths  of 
Diocletian,  the  door  of  the  Palazzo  della  Cancelleria; 
the  north  facade  of  St.  John  Lateran,  the  court  and 
staircases  of  the  adjoining  palace,  the  fountain  of  the 
Moses  on  the  Quirinal,  and  lastly,  the  church  of 
S.  Girolamo  degli  Schiavoni,  all  had  their  share  of  the 
spoils  of  the  Septizonium."1 

The  Baths  of  Diocletian  were  not  more  mercifully 
treated ;  Gualtieri,  one  of  the  Pope's  admirers,  sings 
the  praises  of  the  destruction  of  a  portion  of  them 
(February  12,  1588).  "We  had,"  he  says,  "this  large 
tract  of  land,"  the  present  Piazza  di  Termini,  "which 
was  of  no  use  because  uneven  and  covered  with  the 
ruins  of  the  baths";  but  now,  thanks  to  Sixtus  V., 
"it  has  been  cleared  and  levelled  up."  Not  less  than 
2,660,000  cubic  feet  of  masonry  were  broken  up  in  the 
course  of  the  work.  The  figures  can  be  verified  in 
the  pontifical  Books  of  Account,  from  which  we  learn 
that  the  destruction  lasted  from  May  16,  1586,  to  May 
15  of  the  following  year.  The  materials  were  carted 

1  Euins  and  Excavations,  p.  183. 


240  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

away  and  put  to  use  in  raising  the  level  of  the  Vicus 
Patricius  (Via  del  Bambino  Gesu),  of  the  Vicus  Portae 
Viminalis  (Via  Strozzi),  and  other  adjacent  streets. 

Next  in  importance  come  the  damages  inflicted  in 
the  time  of  Sixtus  V.  upon  the  Claudian  aqueduct,  the 
arches  of  which,  seven  miles  long,  reached  in  places 
the  height  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  Campagna.  Many  of  them  were  demol- 
ished that  the  materials  might  be  used  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  new  Felice  Aqueduct,  which  received  its 
name  from  that  of  the  Pope,  Felice  Peretti.  As  we 
have  seen,  the  Claudian,  the  Marcian,  the  Alexandrine, 
and  other  aqueducts,  had  suffered  little  at  the  hands 
of  the  barbarians,  who  merely  attempted  to  create  a 
water  famine  in  the  besieged  city  by  removing  a  few 
stones  from  the  channels.  The  Marcian  and  Claudian 
aqueducts  at  any  rate  were  practically  intact  till  near 
the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Upon  Matteo  da 
Castello  and  Domenico  Fontana,  the  architects  of 
Sixtus  V.,  and  upon  the  trustees  of  the  hospital  of  S. 
Giovanni,  rests  the  main  part  of  the  responsibility  for 
their  disappearance.  Whenever  the  hospital  was  in 
need  of  money  or  building  materials,  a  certain  number 
of  arches  were  sold  by  public  auction,  and  demolished 
by  the  purchaser.  I  have  found  several  grants  in  the 
archives  of  this  charitable  institution,  conveying  the  right 
to  destroy  one,  two,  and  even  four,  pilasters  at  one  time.1 
1  See  p.  85  and  Fig.  20. 


THE   MONUMENTS  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY     241 

Some  of  the  ruins,  which  are  now  the  pride  of  the 
City,  escaped  destruction  by  a  hair's  breadth  under  the 
rule  of  this  energetic  Pope.  One,  as  I  have  already  inti- 
mated, is  the  so-called  Janus  Quadrifrons  of  the  Forum 
Boarium.  In  a  letter  addressed  to  his  architect,  Fon- 
tana,  dated  January  4,  1588,  Sixtus  says:  "I  give  you 
permission  to  destroy  that  ancient  arch  by  S.  Giorgio 
in  Velabro,  that  you  may  use  its  marbles  for  the 
pedestal  of  the  obelisk  which  I  have  resolved  to  erect 
in  the  Piazza  del  Laterano,  and  also  for  the  coat  of 
arms  and  the  inscription  which  belong  to  the  same 
pedestal.  I  grant  you  also  the  three  columns  of  porta- 
santa  which  support  the  portico  of  a  canon's  residence, 
near  the  Loggia  of  the  Benediction,  and  the  pieces  of  a 
fourth,  which  are  lying  there  on  the  ground.  These 
you  are  to  use  for  the  ciborium  of  our  chapel  in 
S.  Maria  Maggiore." 

Fontana  did  not  avail  himself  fully  of  the  permission, 
being  perhaps  afraid  to  engage  in  acts,  the  vandalism  of 
which  was  too  obvious ;  and  he  took  the  precaution  to 
provide  himself  with  a  safe-conduct  from  the  Pope,  which 
he  could  use  in  case  the  "  Roman  People  "  should  arrest 
him.  In  another  letter,  dated  February  5,  1589,  the 
Pope  says:  "You  are  authorised  to  excavate,  seize, 
and  remove  from  any  place  you  think  it  expedient, 
columns,  marbles,  travertine,  and  any  other  material 
necessary  for  the  building  and  ornamentation  of  the 
chapel,  which  our  sister,  Donna  Camilla,  is  adding  to 


242  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

the  church  of  S.  Susanna.  We  give  these  materials  as 
a  present  to  her,  and  it  is  our  will  that  no  one  shall 
interfere  with  you  in  the  execution  of  our  commands." 

The  aim  which  Sixtus  had  in  view  may  be  urged  in 
extenuation  of  his  treatment  of  the  ancient  monuments. 
We  should  not  forget  that  while  destroying  with  one 
hand  ruins  which,  to  his  mind,  had  no  value,  he  was 
with  the  other  raising  structures  which  to  this  day  com- 
mand the  admiration  of  the  world.  We  may  freely 
concede  that  the  loss  of  portions  of  the  ancient  aque- 
ducts, for  example,  is  fully  compensated  by  the  con- 
struction of  the  Acqua  Felice,  by  means  of  which  the 
higher  parts  of  the  Esquiline,  Quirinal,  and  Pincian 
hills,  almost  entirely  abandoned  for  eleven  centuries  on 
account  of  the  dearth  of  water,  were  again  made  habi- 
table. 

There  is,  however,  one  act  of  vandalism  that  we 
can  never  forgive,  —  the  destruction  of  the  old  Patri- 
archium,  or  pontifical  residence  at  the  Lateran,  with 
its  historic  halls,  chapels,  oratories,  banqueting  rooms, 
loggias,  colonnades,  mosaic  pictures,  and  inscriptions. 
It  was  the  most  wonderful  museum  of  mediaeval  art 
that  ever  existed.  No  one  can  read  the  accounts  of 
Pompeo  Ugonio  and  of  Giacomo  Grimaldi,  without  pro- 
found regret  that  so  much  of  priceless  value  has  been 
lost.  The  oratories  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  dating  from 
the  time  of  Nicholas  I.  (858-867),  of  St.  Sylvester  and 
St.  Sebastian,  dating  from  the  time  of  Theodore  I.  (642- 


THE   MONUMENTS  IN  THE   SIXTEENTH  CENTURY      243 

649),  the  church  and  monastery  of  St.  Pancras,  the 
shrines  of  S.  Caesarius,  of  Michael  the  Archangel,  of 
S.  Apollinaris,  dating  from  the  time  of  Hadrian  I.  (772- 
795),  the  Leonine  triclinium,  the  Loggia  of  the  Benedic- 
tion, built  by  Boniface  VIII.  (1300),  the  Council  hall,  — 


FIG.  42.  —  View  of  the  Lateran  buildings  before  their  destruction  by  Sixtus  V. 
In  the  foreground  (6) ,  the  bronze  statue  of  Marcus  Aurelius.  From  a  sketch 
by  Ciampini. 

all  were  razed  to  the  ground  in  a  few  months.  The 
loss  most  lamented,  not  only  by  cultivated  men  of  the 
day  but  also  by  the  populace,  was  that  of  the  Oratory 
of  the  Holy  Cross  (Oratorium  Sanctae  Crucis),  the 
shape  and  location  of  which  are  shown  in  the  sketch 
by  Ciampini  (Fig.  42). 

This  Oratory  was  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross,  with 
a  small   atrium  in  front,  surrounded  on  three  sides  by 


244  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

columns  and  presenting  the  type  of  a  classic  nymphaeum. 
There  were  three  fountains  of  rare  marble,  one  occupying 
the  centre  of  the  vestibule,  the  others  at  the  sides,  each 
with  water  trickling  down  into  it  from  the  capital  of 
a  column.  The  three  doors  were  cast  in  bronze  and 
inlaid  with  silver.  Three  of  the  four  arms  of  the  cross 
contained  altars,  while  in  the  fourth  stood  the  baptismal 
font.  Exquisite  mosaics  adorned  the  ceiling,  and  the 
walls  were  covered  with  the  finest  marble  veneering,  of 
the  sort  called  opus  sectile.  The  destruction  of  this  gem 
of  early  Christian  architecture  is  recorded  by  Ugonio  in 
the  following  words :  "  This  most  splendid  oratory  was 
torn  down  amid  the  groans  of  the  City,  and  its  destruc- 
tion has  left  a  sense  of  loss  in  the  hearts  of  all." 

The  closing  years  of  the  sixteenth  century  fall  in  the 
pontificate  of  Pope  Clement  VIII.,  Aldobrandini  (1592- 
1605).  He  undertook,  in  1597,  the  renovation  of  the 
transept  of  St.  John  Lateran,  which  was  called,  after 
him,  the  Nave  Clementina.  He  also  raised  the  magnifi- 
cent Altar  of  the  Sacrament  at  the  south  end  of  the 
same  transept.  The  names  of  Pietro  Paolo  Olivieri, 
architect ;  of  Cav.  di  Arpino  and  Cristof  oro  dalle  Po- 
marancie,  painters ;  of  Antonio  Valsoldo,  Francesco 
Landini,  and  Silla  Longhi,  sculptors;  of  Curzio  Vanni, 
goldsmith ;  of  Orazio  Censori,  founder ;  and  of  Giulio 
Lanciani,  goldbeater,  are  associated  with  this  important 
work.  But  what  a  destruction  of  old  marbles  and 


THE  MONUMENTS  IN  THE   SIXTEENTH  CENTURY    245 

bronzes  the  completion  of  it  involved  !  It  is  clear  from 
the  account-book  of  the  clerk  of  the  works,  Giovanni 
Vaccarone,  that  for  three  consecutive  years  Rome,  the 
suburbs,  and  even  parts  of  Etruria  were  ransacked  to 
secure  materials.  Damages  were  caused  not  so  much 
by  the  small  private  speculators  who  provided,  one 
a  column,  another  a  bit  of  frieze,  or  a  tombstone,  or 
plain  blocks  of  marble,  as  by  the  contractors  armed 
with  the  Pope's  official  permission  to  carry  off  or  pull 
to  pieces  any  antique  monument  that  would  suit  their 
purpose. 

Among  those  mentioned  as  having  provided  mate- 
rials—  those  who  destroyed  old  monuments  on  their 
own  account  —  are  Muzio  del  Bufalo ;  Flaminio  Vacca, 
who  sold  the  marbles  of  the  arch  of  Claudius  in  the 
Piazza  di  Sciarra ;  the  nuns  of  S.  Silvestro,  who  furnished 
marbles  from  the  temple  of  Mithras  at  S.  Giovannino 
(Via  della  Mercede) ;  Loreto  Facciolo,  who  thus  dis- 
posed of  the  remains  of  the  temple  of  Venus  in  Calca- 
rario ;  the  canons  of  the  Pantheon,  who  sold  the  marbles 
from  the  Baths  of  Agrippa;  the  monks  of  La  Minerva, 
who  apparently  furnished  marbles  from  the  temple  of 
Isis ;  the  nuns  of  S.  Marta,  who  sold  the  remains  of  the 
Arco  di  Camigliano ;  and  the  Duchess  Savelli,  who  sold 
I  know  not  what  splendid  remains.  The  monks  of  SS. 
Apostoli  contributed  a  column  of  porphyry  and  a  block 
of  giallo  antico ;  the  nuns  of  S.  Lorenzo  in  Panisperna, 
many  blocks  of  travertine  from  some  ruins  which  occu- 


246  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  EOME 

pied  the  slope  of  the  Viminal,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
S.  Pudenziana ;  the  priests  of  S.  Agnese,  in  the  Piazza 
Navona,  furnished  stone  and  marble  from  the  Alexan- 
drine Stadium ;  and  there  were  a  hundred  others  that 
I  cannot  take  the  space  to  mention. 

Meanwhile  the  papal  board  of  works  on  its  own  ac- 
count undertook  excavations  and  the  demolition  of  ruins, 
granting  two-thirds  of  the  proceeds  to  those  who  did 
the  work.  Under  these  conditions  Alessandro  Senzolino 
carried  on  systematic  operations  in  the  Forum  and  at  La 
Marmorata ;  Petruccio  Bettania,  at  Ostia ;  Gioacchino 
Borrella,  at  Ponte  Salario ;  Ottaviano  da  Gubbio,  at 
the  Torre  Pignattara  and  S.  Maria  Nuova,  that  is,  the 
mausoleum  of  the  Empress  Helena  and  the  temple  of 
Venus  and  Rome.  They  took  columns  wherever  they 
could  find  them,  not  only  from  sacred  edifices,  like  the 
old  Lateran,  S.  Croce  in  Gerusalemme,  and  S.  Pudenziana, 
but  even  from  the  street  corners.  On  April  25,  1599, 
a  Pietro  Savia,  a  mason,  sold  "the  shaft  of  a  column  of 
giallo  taken  from  the  corner  of  a  house  near  S.  Apol- 
linare."  On  the  same  day  a  certain  Ippolito  conveyed  a 
similar  shaft  "removed  from  the  corner  of  his  vineyard 
at  the  Sette  Sale,"  and  on  May  2,  Simon  the  apothecary 
sold  a  piece  of  portasanta,  which  had  served  as  a  curb- 
stone at  the  entrance  to  the  Ponte  Sisto. 

The  worst  deeds  of  destruction  at  this  time,  however, 
must  be  brought  home  to  Orazio  Censori,  the  builder  of 
the  Altar  of  the  Sacrament.  This  masterpiece  is  orna- 


THE   MONUMENTS  IN  THE   SIXTEENTH  CENTURY      247 

merited  with  four  large  bronze-gilt  columns,  which  sup- 
port a  pediment  of  the  same  metal.  The  guide-books 
relate  fantastic  stories  as  to  the  origin  of  these  four 
columns.  One  account  assigns  them  to  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  Optimus  Maximus ;  according  to  another,  the 
Emperor  Vespasian  brought  them  from  Judaea;  and  a 
third  version  says  that  they  were  cast  by  Augustus  from 
the  beaks  of  the  ships  captured  at  the  battle  of  Actium. 
It  is  probably  true  that  the  columns,  or  at  least  two  of 
them,  were  placed  in  the  Lateran  by  Constantine,  to 
serve  as  light-bearers  (Pharo-cantharoi)  on  each  side  of 
the  high  altar. 

As  the  necessary  metal  was  lacking  to  adapt  the 
columns  to  the  design  of  the  new  altar,  and  to  crown 
them  with  capitals  and  a  pediment,  Censori  made  a  tour 
in  Etruria,  in  the  district  of  Tarquinii  and  Falerii.  He 
brought  back  to  Rome  hundreds  upon  hundreds  of 
pounds  of  works  of  art  in  bronze,  collected  from  the 
tombs  of  Corneto  and  Civita  Castellana,  which  were  all 
melted  up  in  the  furnace,  together  with  pieces  of  the 
bronze  beams  of  the  Pantheon.  An  entry  dated  July, 
1599,  records  the  payment  of  5089.55  scudi  to  Censori 
"for  mending  a  broken  bronze  column;  for  the  manu- 
facture of  three  new  capitals  with  foliage,  flowers, 
rosettes,  and  ovules ;  for  the  decorations  of  the  entire 
cornice,  consisting  of  16  doves,  16  stars,  and  2  large 
angels;  and  for  the  expenses  of  his  journey  to  Corneto 
and  Civita  Castellana,  to  bring  metal  to  Rome."  The 


248 


DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 


commune  of  Corneto  received  59.85  scudi  for  665 
pounds  of  bronze ;  I  have  not  found  the  account  rela- 
tive to  Civita  Castellana. 

In    opposition    to    this    shameful    behaviour    of    the 
Apostolic     chamber,    the    City    Council    never    granted 


FIG.  43.  —  The  Loggia  of  Pietro  Squarcialupi,  Palazzo  del  Senators. 

permission  to  use  materials  from  ancient  structures 
without  restrictions  designed  to  protect  the  structures 
themselves.  On  September,  1520,  Pietro  Squarcialupi, 
Senator,  wishing  to  complete  the  Loggia  in  front  of  the 
Palazzo  del  Senatore  on  the  Capitol  (Fig.  43),  asked 
permission  to  obtain  stones  from  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  triumphal  arch  of  Septimius  Severus.  The  decree 
of  the  Council  granting  the  authorisation  is  a  model  of 


THE  MONUMENTS  IN  THE   SIXTEENTH  CENTURY      251 

prudence.  The  Senator  must  excavate  on  his  own 
responsibility  and  at  his  own  expense ;  and  when  the 
excavation  has  reached  the  desired  depth  he  must 
notify  the  magistrate,  who,  with  a  committee  of  ten 
citizens,  "  shall  visit  the  place,  and  satisfy  himself  that 
no  harm  is  done  to  the  standing  remains  of  the  arch, 
or  of  other  monuments  in  the  Forum." 

A  similar  instance  may  be  quoted  from  the  Records 
of  the  latter  half  of  the  century.  On  October  15,  1574, 
the  City  Council,  pressed  by  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  to 
restore  the  Ponte  Rotto  (the  Pons  Aemilius  of  classic 
times,  Fig.  44),  three  arches  of  which  had  been  car- 
ried away  by  the  inundation  of  September  27,  1557, 
accepted  the  suggestion  of  Giovanni  Battista  Cecchini, 
the  chairman  of  the  Council,  to  make  use  of  blocks  of 
travertine  from  the  Coliseum  for  the  work.  The  decree 
of  the  Council,  however,  was  worded  with  the  greatest 
care :  "  It  is  agreed  that  the  marbles  and  stones  re- 
quired for  the  work  shall  be  excavated  and  removed 
from  the  belt  of  ruins  around  the  amphitheatre,  com- 
monly called  il  Coliseo,  provided  that  the  said  marbles 
and  stones  are  found  loose,  and  in  no  way  attached  to 
any  standing  part  of  the  monument.  The  search  can 
be  extended  to  other  sites  belonging  to  the  S.  P.  Q.  R.,1 
provided  no  harm  is  done  to  standing  ruins  —  Matteo 
da  Castello,  our  architect,  to  carry  out  the  instructions 

1  Senatus  Populusque  Romanics,  "The  Senate  and  People  of  Rome," 
an  official  designation  of  the  government  of  the  modern  as  well  as  of  the 
ancient  city. 


252  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

of  the  Council ;  all  statues,  or  movable  antiquities,  which 
may  eventually  come  to  light,  shall  be  the  property  of 
the  S.  P.  Q.  R." 

In  this  connexion  it  is  worth  while  to  remark  that 
the  founders  of  the  science  of  epigraphy,  Metello, 
Smetius,  Pighius,  Ligorio,  Panvinio,  Fulvio  Ursino, 
and  Cittadini,  aimed  simply  to  copy  the  greatest  pos- 
sible number  of  inscriptions,  and  to  investigate  and 
expound  their  meaning ;  they  concerned  themselves 
not  at  all  with  such  matters  as  the  place  in  which 
an  inscription  was  discovered,  or  its  subsequent  fate. 
They  did  not  seem  to  think  it  important  to  notice 
whether  a  block  containing  an  inscription  had  been 
found  in  situ,  or  loose  in  a  mass  of  rubbish,  whether  in 
the  Forum  or  in  the  Campus  Martius.  Once  an 
inscription  was  copied  and  made  known,  it  was  a 
matter  of  indifference  to  them  whether  the  original 
stone  was  removed  to  the  Farnese,  Cesi,  or  Carpi 
museums,  or  burnt  into  lime,  or  sawed  into  slabs  to 
pave  the  floor  of  St.  Peter's.  A  full  recognition  of 
the  importance  of  recording  the  minutest  details  in  all 
branches  of  study  having  to  do  with  antiquity  has 
come  only  with  the  development  of  scientific  method 
in  our  own  days. 


CHAPTER   XX 

THE    MODERNISATION    OF    MEDIAEVAL    BUILDINGS   IN 
THE  SEVENTEENTH  AND  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURIES 

THE  systematic  demolition  of  the  remains  of  ancient 
Rome  ends  with  the  sixteenth  century,  but  the  next 
period,  which  extends  from  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  adds 
another  chapter  to  the  record  of  loss  and  disappearance 
—  the  destruction  of  mediaeval  buildings.  Under  the 
pretext  of  restoration  and  embellishment,  popes,  car- 
dinals, patricians,  and  heads  of  monastic  orders,  laid 
their  hands  upon  the  most  noted  and  the  most  vener- 
able churches,  which  had,  until  then,  preserved  their 
beautiful  basilica  type  in  all  its  simplicity  and  majesty. 
Paul  V.,  as  we  have  seen,  inaugurated  the  movement 
by  pulling  down  the  east  half  of  the  old  basilica  of 
St.  Peter's,  1606-1615.  The  seventeenth  century  wit- 
nessed, also,  other  modernisations ;  the  twin  churches 
of  St.  Hadrian  and  S.  Martina  were  disfigured  by  Piero 
da  Cortona,  under  Urban  VIII.,  and  by  Alfonzo  Soto- 
mayor  and  Borromini,  under  Alexander  VII.  In  1651, 
Onorio  Longhi  destroyed  the  church  of  S.  Ambrogio 
with  its  marvellous  frescoes  by  Pierino  del  Vaga,  to 

253 


254  DESTRUCTION  OP  ANCIENT  ROME 

build  in  its  place  the  tasteless  structure  of  S.  Carlo 
al  Corso. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  the  list  is  rapidly  ex- 
tended. The  old  church  of  S.  Alessio  was  modernised 
by  Tommaso  de  Marchis  in  1750,  the  .church  of 
S.  Anastasia,  in  1722,  by  Carlo  Gimach.  The  disfig- 
urement of  S.  Apollinare  was  due  to  Ferdinando 
Fuga,  of  SS.  Apostoli  to  Francesco  Fontana,  and  of 
SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano  to  Arrigucci.  The  basilica  of 
S.  Croce  in  Gerusalemme  was  profaned  and  reduced 
to  its  present  form  in  1744  by  Passalacqua  and  Greg- 
orini,  a  restoration  classed  by  Milizia  among  the  works 
of  "nefarious"  architects.  The  same  title  of  dishonour 
was  given  by  Fea  to  Paolo  Posi,  who,  under  Bene- 
dict XIV.,  profaned  the  attic  of  the  Pantheon,  substi- 
tuting chiaroscuro  daubs  for  the  exquisite  marble  in- 
crustations of  the  time  of  Septimius  Severus.  The 
epithet  "nefarious,"  might  most  appropriately  be  ap- 
plied also  to  Borromini  on  account  of  the  disfigurement 
of  the  Lateran,  to  Antonio  Canevari  for  that  of 
SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  to  Francesco  Ferrari  for  that  of 
S.  Gregorio  on  the  Caelian,  and  so  on  to  wearisome 
length ;  for  the  restoration  of  churches  became  a  general 
practice,  and  was  carried  out  in  accordance  with  a  uni- 
form plan. 

This  plan  may  be  easily  outlined.  "The  columns  of 
the  nave  were  walled  up,  and  concealed  in  thick  pilas- 
ters of  whitewashed  masonry ;  the  inscribed,  or  sculp- 


MODERNISATION   OF  MEDIAEVAL  BUILDINGS        255 

tured  marble  slabs,  and  the  cosmatesque  pavements, 
were  taken  up  and  replaced  by  brick  floors ;  the  win- 
dows were  enlarged  out  of  all  proportion,  that  floods 
of  light  might  enter  and  illuminate  every  remote,  peace- 
ful recess  of  the  sacred  edifice.  For  the  beautiful  roofs 
made  of  cedar  wood,  vaults  or  lacunaria  were  substi- 
tuted. The  simple  but  precious  frescoes  of  the  four- 
teenth century  were  whitewashed,  and  the  fresh  surface 
was  covered  with  the  insignificant  productions  of  Fran- 
cesco Cozza,  Gerolamo  Troppa,  Giacinto  Brandi,  and 
other  painters  equally  obscure."1  But  the  most  sur- 
prising fact  is  that  all  these  profanations  could  be 
accomplished,  not  only  without  opposition,  but  amid 
general  applause;  such  was  the  perverted  taste  of  the 
time. 

In  this  period,  however,  we  are  called  upon  to  chroni- 
cle only  a  few  instances  of  the  destruction  of  classical 
monuments.  Paul  V.,  in  1610,  demolished  the  Baths  of 
Constantino  and  four  churches  to  make  room  for  the 
palace  of  his  kinsman,  Scipione  Borghese,  now  the  Ros- 
pigliosi  palace.  He  also  levelled  to  the  ground  the 
beautiful  remains  of  the  temple  of  Minerva  in  the 
Forum  Transitorium  (1606)  ;  the  columns  and  frieze 
were  cut  into  slabs  and  utilised  for  the  decoration  of 
the  Borghese  Chapel  in  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  and  of  the 
fountain  of  the  Acqua  Paola  on  the  Janiculum.  The 
blocks  of  stone  belonging  to  the  cella  of  the  temple 

1  Ancient  Some,  p.  xix. 


256  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT   ROME 

and  to  the  enclosing  wall  of  the  Forum  were  given  to 
the  monks  of  S.  Adriano. 

In  1632  Urban  VIII.  damaged  the  Templum  Sacrae 
Urbis  and  the  Heroon  Romuli,  which  are  united  in 
the  church  of  SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano.  He  raised  the 
level  of  both  buildings  twenty-four  feet,  and  sold  or 
presented  stones  from  them  to  the  Jesuits  for  their 
church  of  S.  Ignazio.  The  bronze  doors  were  wrenched 
from  their  fastenings  and  reset  out  of  place ;  the 
historic  inscriptions  were  obliterated,  and  the  beautiful 
veneering  of  marble  in  opus  sectile  was  destroyed. 
Urban  is  responsible  also  for  the  destruction  of  the 
Secretarium  Senatus  (S.  Martina),  of  some  portions 
of  the  mausoleum  of  Hadrian,  of  the  old  churches  of 
S.  Vibiana,  S.  Anastasia,  S.  Maria  in  Pallara,  and 
S.  Salvatore  in  Campo,  and  lastly  of  the  bronze  roof 
which  covered  the  portico  of  the  Pantheon.  The  weight 
of  the  metal  removed  to  the  apostolic  foundry  from  the 
Pantheon  was  450,251  pounds. 

The  last  incident  we  have  to  mention  in  this  con- 
nexion is  the  demolition  of  the  triumphal  arch  which 
stood  at  the  corner  of  the  Corso  (Via  Flaminia)  and 
the  Via  in  Lucina  (Ara  Pacis),  accomplished  by  Pope 
Alexander  VII.  in  1662.  Two  of  the  bas-reliefs  were 
removed  to  the  Capitoline  Museum ;  a  third  was  given 
to  Maria  Peretti  Savelli.  Two  columns  of  verde  antico 
were  bought  by  the  Pamphili  and  placed  on  either  side 
of  their  altar  at  S.  Agnese  in  the  Piazza  Navona  ;  two 


MODERNISATION   OF   MEDIAEVAL   BUILDINGS        257 

others  found  a  resting-place  in  the  Corsini  Chapel  at 
the  Lateran.  The  key  of  the  arch  is  to  be  found  in 
the  vestibule  of  the  University  of  Rome,  and  the  group 
of  the  three  dancing  Hours,  discovered  in  1740  at  the 
foot  of  the  arch,  has  been  removed  to  the  Galleria  delle 
Statue  in  the  Vatican  Museum. 


CHAPTER   XXI 
MODERN   USE   OF   AXCIEXT   MARBLES 

IF  we  could  only  wrest  the  secret  of  their  origin 
from  the  marbles,  stones,  and  bricks  with  which  our 
palaces,  our  houses,  and  our  churches  were  built  and 
decorated  in  the  period  of  the  Renaissance,  if  the 
marble-dust  with  which  the  ceilings  and  the  walls  were 
plastered,  and  their  stucco  ornamentation  modelled,  by 
the  cinquecento  artists,  could  be  again  moulded  into  the 
statues  and  bas-reliefs  from  which  it  was  obtained,  our 
knowledge  of  the  ancient  City  and  of  its  treasures  of 
art  would  be  wonderfully  enhanced.  We  cannot  follow 
the  record  of  this  practice  without  a  feeling  of  melan- 
choly as  we  reflect  upon  the  irreparable  loss  to  culture 
and  progress  which  the  modern  world  has  experienced  in 
the  disappearance  of  so  many  masterpieces  in  which  were 
embodied  the  highest  ideals  of  antiquity.  Nothing  would 
better  illustrate  the  strange  turns  of  fortune  than  the 
varied  uses  to  which  the  marbles  from  ancient  struc- 
tures have  been  put  in  modern  times;  and  I  may,  per- 
haps, fittingly  close  this  brief  sketch  by  relating  a  few 
out  of  the  almost  numberless  instances  that  have  come 
to  my  notice. 

258 


MODERN  USE  OF  ANCIENT  MARBLES  259 

The  beautiful  slabs  of  portasanta,  with  which  the  doors 
of  the  church  of  S.  Maria  dell'  Anima  are  veneered,  were 
taken  from  a  marble-cutter's  shop,  discovered  in  the 
foundations  of  the  same  church.  The  tombstone  of  Inigo 
Piccolomini,  Duke  of  Amalfi,  Marquis  of  Capistrano, 
Chief  Justice  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  buried  August 
29,  1566,  in  S.  Maria  del  Popolo,  was  cut  out  of  a  cornice 
from  the  Baths  of  Agrippa. 

We  know  from  the  Memoirs  of  Flaminio  Vacca  that 
the  coat  of  arms  of  Pius  IV.  on  the  Porta  Pia  was 
carved  out  of  the  capital  of  a  column  of  the  Porticus 
Eventus  Boni  near  the  Stagnum  Agrippae.1  In  the  same 
connexion  Vacca  says:  "  I  remember  also  that  while  the 
Theatine  Fathers  were  laying  the  foundations  of  the 
church  of  S.  Andrea  della  Valle  they  found  a  part  of  a 
column  of  grey  granite  forty  palms  long.  This  was  sawn 
into  several  pieces,  and  one  of  them  was  turned  into  the 
threshold  of  the  main  door  of  the  church." 

Vacca  further  throws  light  on  the  disappearance  of 
the  last  remains  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Optimus 
Maximus.  "  Upon  the  Tarpeian  rock  behind  the 
Palazzo  dei  Conservatori,"  he  says,  "several  columns  of 
Pentelic  marble  were  found.  Their  capitals  were  so 
large  that  I  was  able  to  carve  out  of  one  the  lion 
which  is  now  in  the  loggia  of  the  Villa  Medici  facing 
the  garden.  The  others  were  used  by  Vincenzo  de 
Rossi  for  the  statues  of  the  prophets  and  other  figures 

1  See  p.  3. 


260 


DESTRUCTION   OP  ANCIENT  ROME 


which  adorn  the  chapel  of   Cardinal  Cesi  in  the  church 
of  S.   Maria  della  Pace  (Fig.  45).     No  fragment  of  the 


FTG.  4". —  The  Cesi  chapel  in  the  church  of  S.  Maria  della  Pace,  built  with 
Peutelic  marble  from  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Optimus  Maximus. 

entablature  was  found,  but  as  the  building  was  close  to 
the  edge  of  the  Tarpeian  rock  I  suspect  that  its  marbles 
must  have  fallen  over  the  precipice  "  (Mem.  64). 


MODERN   USE  OF  ANCIENT  MARBLES  261 

The  correctness  of  this  surmise  was  proved  in  1780, 
one  hundred  and  eighty  years  after  the  publication  of 
Vacca's  Memoirs.  "  In  that  year,"  says  Montagnani, 
"  great  blocks  of  entablature  of  beautiful  workmanship 
were  found  under  the  house  at  No.  13  Via  Montanara, 
belonging  to  Duke  Lante  della  Rovere.  The  frieze  was 
ornamented  with  festoons  fastened  to  the  heads  of  bulls. 
They  were  destroyed  on  the  spot  before  any  one  could 
make  a  sketch  of  them.  As  this  house  of  Duke  Lante 
stands  at  the  foot  of  the  Capitoline  hill,  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  marbles  belong  to  the  temple  mentioned 
by  Vacca." 

Toward  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  a  num- 
ber of  fluted  columns  of  giallo  antico  thirteen  feet  long 
were  discovered  among  the  ruins  of  the  temple  of  Venus 
in  the  gardens  of  Sallust.  Cardinal  Ricci  di  Monte- 
pulciano  bought  them  and  used  them  for  the  balustrade 
in  his  chapel  in  S.  Pietro  in  Montorio.  He  purchased 
also  some  alabaster  columns  found  at  the  same  place, 
which  he  had  sawed  into  slabs  for  tables ;  these  and 
other  valuable  objects  were  shipped  to  Lisbon  as  a 
present  to  the  King  of  Portugal,  but  the  vessel  which 
bore  them  foundered  in  a  gale. 

When  the  tepidarium  or  central  hall  of  the  Baths  of 
Diocletian  was  adapted  for  Christian  worship  by  Pius  IV. 
the  capital  of  one  of  the  eight  granite  pillars  was  missing; 
Michel  Angelo  replaced  it  by  another  discovered  acci- 
dentally among  the  ruins  of  the  temple  of  Claudius  on  the 


262  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

Caelian.  The  stadium  of  Domitian,  now  represented  by 
the  Piazza  Navona,  has  supplied  materials  for  the  erection 
of  several  modern  buildings,  among  them  the  palace  of 
Beneinbene  in  the  Piazza  Madama,  the  church  of  S. 
Nicola  dei  Lorenesi  in  the  Via  dell'  Anima,  and  the 
Casino  of  Pius  IV.  in  the  Vatican  gardens. 

The  chapel  of  Gregory  XIII.  in  St.  Peter's  is  mostly 
built  with  marbles  from  the  mausoleum  of  Hadrian. 
Giovanni  Alberti,  who  happened  to  be  in  Rome  at  the 
time  of  its  erection,  has  left  the  following  memorandum 
in  his  sketch-book,  now  in  the  Collacchioni  library, 
Borgo  S.  Sepolcro :  "  The  frieze  with  wreaths  and 
bulls'  heads,  sketched  on  these  sheets,  together  with 
the  architrave  and  base,  was  taken  from  the  river-front 
of  the  mausoleum  of  Hadrian  by  order  of  Pope  Gregory 
XIII.  The  marbles  will  be  used  in  building  the  Gre- 
gorian Chapel  in  St.  Peter's.  I  made  these  drawings 
July  20,  1579."  A  similar  fate  befell  the  marbles  dis- 
covered in  the  Augusteum  of  the  Fratres  Arvales,  near 
La  Magliana.  The  Augusteum  was  an  oblong  hall,  sup- 
ported by  columns  of  Greek  marble  twenty-two  feet 
high.  It  contained  statues  of  imperial  members  of  the 
brotherhood,  standing  on  pedestals  inscribed  with  their 
praises.  The  statues  were  saved  and  were  dispersed 
among  several  collections ;  the  columns  and  pedestals 
were  cut  up  for  the  decoration  of  the  same  chapel. 

Up  to  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  there 
were  considerable  remains  of  the  Baths  of  Titus  standing 


MODERN   USE   OF  ANCIENT  MARBLES  263 

east  of  the  Coliseum,  between  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli  and 
the  Baths  of  Trajan.1  Here  were  found  sections  of  "the 
most  beautiful  cornices,"  which,  according  to  the  pre- 
vailing custom,  were  sawed  up  into  slabs,  and  were  sold 
to  the  Jesuits  to  be  used  in  their  church  of  Gesu.  The 
mention  of  this  church  brings  to  my  memory  another 
incident  of  the  same  sort.  From  the  beautiful  volume 
lately  published  by  Plon  in  Paris,2  we  learn  that  in  or 
about  1541,  the  head  of  the  Roman  house  of  the  Jesuits, 
Father  Condatius,  unearthed  in  the  piazza  then  called 
degli  Altieri,  now  del  Gesu,  some  great  blocks  of  marble 
which  he  sold  for  one  hundred  ducats.  Another  docu- 
ment which  I  have  discovered  in  the  state  archives 
tells  us  that  the  marbles  were  bought  by  a  lime-burner 
and  consumed  in  a  kiln  close  to  the  church. 

The  columns  of  verde  antico  which  ornament  the 
balcony  of  the  Farnese  palace,  and  those  of  the  villa 
of  Julius  III.  on  the  Via  Flaminia,  come  from  the  Baths 
of  the  Acque  Albule,  or  sulphur  springs,  in  the  plain 
below  Tivoli.  The  columns  of  rare  breccia  on  the  high 
altar  of  the  church  of  S.  Rocco  are  from  an  ancient 
building  on  the  site  of  the  present  Orto  Botanico.  The 
two  alabaster  columns  of  the  Odescalchi  Chapel  in  the 
SS.  Apostoli  were  found  in  1728  in  the  palace  of  Au- 

1  They  are  represented  on  sheets  17  and  18  of  the  Vestigi  deW  anti- 
chita  di  Roma  of  du  Perac  (edition  of  1575). 

2  La  vie  de  Saint  Ignace  de  Loyola  d'apres  Pierre  Bibadeneira,  son 
premier  historien,  par  le  P.  Charles  Clair,  S.J.,  p.  278. 


264  DESTRUCTION   OF   ANCIENT   ROME 

gustus  on  the  Palatine.  The  vestibule  of  the  church 
of  S.  Teodoro  is  paved  with  pieces  of  porphyry  found 
at  La  Marmorata.  The  uppermost  steps  of  the  Porto  di 
Ripetta,  removed  in  1888,  were  paved  with  blocks  of 
serpentine  from  the  same  place.  The  piazza  and  the 
inclined  approach  of  the  Capitol  were  paved  with 
travertine  slabs  from  the  area  in  front  of  the  Pan- 
theon. The  columns  of  breccia  corallina  in  the  chapel 
of  S.  Sebastiano  on  the  Palatine  come  from  the  house 
of  the  Vestals  ;  those  of  the  chapel  of  the  Morti  in  S. 
Lorenzo  fuori  le  Mura  from  the  police  barracks  on  the 
Caelian  (castra  Peregrinorum). 

The  Ginetti  chapel  in  S.  Andrea  della  Valle  is  inlaid 
with  slabs  of  Africano  discovered  at  Porto ;  the  Falco- 
nieri  Chapel  in  S.  Giovanni  dei  Fiorentini,  with  marbles 
from  the  great  temple  of  Juno  at  Veii ;  the  Borghese 
Chapel  in  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  with  the  spoils  of  the 
temples  and  palaces  on  the  Aventine;  and  the  Bernini 
palace  at  S.  Andrea  delle  Fratte,  modernised  by  the 
present  owner  in  1868,  with  the  spoils  of  the  Baths  of 
Licinius  Sura.  The  terminal  tower  of  the  city  wall  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber  below  Monte  Testaccio  was 
built  by  Honorius  or  Narses  with  blocks  of  alabaster 
from  the  neighbouring  marble-Avharf ;  at  the  beginning 
of  the  last  century  the  tower  was  pulled  down  and  the 
blocks  were  used  again  for  the  chapel  of  Raphael  in 
the  Pantheon. 

When  we  think   of   the  Avealth  of  marbles  displayed 


MODERN   USE   OF  ANCIENT  MARBLES  265 

in  the  public  and  private  buildings  of  Rome,  and  at 
the  same  time  consider  that  every  cubic  foot  has  been 
obtained  from  the  monuments  of  the  ancient  City,  we 
gain  a  new  insight  into  the  magnitude  of  the  building 
operations  of  the  ancient  Romans.  We  must  remember, 
too,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  ancient  marbles  used  by 
modern  architects  and  marble-workers  were  found  either 
shapeless  or  in  a  form  unsuited  to  the  use  for  which  they 
were  needed,  so  that  at  least  from  a  third  to  a  half  of  the 
gross  cubic  content  has  been  lost. 

In  1845  Faustino  Corsi  made  a  list  of  the  marble 
columns  dispersed  over  the  fourteen  wards  of  the  city ; 
the  total  number  recorded  by  him  is  7012.  Since  the 
publication  of  this  catalogue  fifty-four  years  have  elapsed, 
and  we  may  calculate  that  the  number  has  been  increased 
by  at  least  one-tenth,  so  that  to-day  the  sum  total  is 
probably  not  far  from  8000.  This  is  truly  a  surprising 
number,  but  it  is  far  from  incredible,  if  we  recall  that 
the  City  once  possessed  3000  statues  of  bronze  alone. 


INDEXES 


I.    INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


ABBEY,  Westminster,  184,  187  fol. 
Aequa  Paola,  fountain  of,  255. 
Acque  Albule,  baths  of,  263. 
Adalbert,  Count,  gives  warning  of  the 

approach  of  the  Saracens,  127. 
S.  Adriano.    See  Church,  under  Ha- 
drian. 

Aesculapius,  statue  of,  29. 
St.    Agatha,   poster ula   of,    139   fol.; 

church  of,  145,  147. 
Agilulf,  88. 
S.  Agnese  f uori  le  Mura,  garden  of,  20 ; 

church  of,  20,  32. 
S.  Agnese  (Piazza  Navona),  church  of, 

246,256. 

S.  Agostiuo,  church  of,  204. 
Agrippa,  improvement  of   Rome,  11 ; 

Pantheon   of,   110;    statue  of,  111; 

head  of  (?),  112. 
Agrippae  Staguum,  259. 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  cathedral  of,  183. 
Alaric,  53,  91,  115;  advance  on  Rome 

in  408,  56 ;  enters  the  city  in  410,  57. 
Albinus,  Lucius,  112. 
Aldobraudini  gardens,  24. 
S.  Alessio,  church  of,  254. 
Alexander  VI.,  VII.    See  Pope. 
Altar  of  the  Sacrament,  bronze  col- 
umns of,  247. 

S.  Ambrogio,  church  of,  253. 
Anastasis  (S.  Anastasia).    See  Church. 
S.  Andrea  at  Amalfi,  church  of,  184: 

delle  Frate,264;  at  the  Manger,  118; 

della  Valle,  4,  259,  264. 
SS.  Andreae  et  Gregorii  ad    Clivum 

Scaurum,  church,  121. 
S.  Angelo,  castle  of,  8,  88,  128,  133, 

156,  160,  177,  214. 


Auguillara,  199. 

Anicii,  199. 

Anicius  Acilins  Aginatius,  37;  Pau- 
linus,  36. 

Aunia  Comificia  Faustina,  house  of,  57. 

Annibaldi,  201. 

S.  Anselmo,  garden  of,  57. 

Antiochia,  statue  of,  104. 

Antonio  da  Saugallo,  the  younger, 
memorandum  of,  32. 

Antonius  and  Faustina,  temple  of, 
111. 

S.  Apollinare,  church  of,  246,  254. 

Apollo  Belvedere,  222. 

SS.  Apostoli.    See  Church. 

Apoxyomenos,  copy  of,  69. 

Appian  Way.    See  Via  Appia. 

Apusii,  tomb  of  the,  103. 

Aqua  Alexandrina,  240 ;  Auio  Vetus, 
82 ;  Appia,  82 ;  Claudia,  80,  85,  240 ; 
Felice,  82,  85,  240,  242 ;  Marcia,  80, 
85,  240 ;  Virgo,  82. 

Aqueducts,  water  supply  of,  cut  off  by 
Goths,  79;  channels  of,  neglected, 
80  fol.;  used  for  fortifications,  83. 
Also,  see  Aqua. 

Ara  Maxima,  17,  209. 

Aracoeli,  church  of  the,  220. 

Arcadius,  inscription  relating  to,  50; 
restored  city  walls,  53 ;  with  Hono- 
rius  repaired  theatre  of  Pompey, 
152. 

Arcadius,  Honorius,  and  Theodosius. 
See  Arch. 

Arch,  of  Arcadius,  Houorius,  and  Theo- 
dosius, 52,  53, 151 ;  of  M.  Aurelius, 
on  the  Corso,  118,  231,  256  fol. ;  di 
Camigliauo,  245  ;  of  Claudius,  148, 


267 


268 


INDEX   OF  SUBJECTS 


245 ;  of  Constantine,  19,  30,  201 ;  of 
Gratianus,  Valentinianus,  and  Theo- 
dosius,  52,  151,  207 ;  of  Gordianus, 
211;  of  Janus  Quadrifrons  (of  the 
Forum  Boarium),  34,  125,  201,  235, 
241 ;  of  Lentulus,  191 ;  arcus  novus 
(near  S.  Maria  in  Via  Lata),  210;  of 
Septimius  Severus,  145, 147, 148, 251 ; 
of  Titus,  121, 151, 201 ;  of  Trajan,  31 ; 
of  Valentinian  and  Valens,  53. 

Architectus  publicorum,  77. 

Arcus  Caelimontani,  78. 

Argiletum,  147,  153. 

Ariadne,  statue  of  the  sleeping,  222. 

Ariulf,  88. 

Arruutii,  tomb  of  the,  31. 

Art(orius?)  Gernianianus,  house  of, 
24. 

Augusteum,  110;  of  the  Fratres  Ar- 
vales,  262. 

Augustus,  transformation  of  the  city 
during  the  administration  of,  10 
fol. ;  places  images  of  the  gods  in  the 
Compital  shrines,  38 ;  statue  of,  111 ; 
mausoleum  of,  170,  176,  199;  palace 
of,  on  the  Palatine,  263  fol. 

Aurelian,  walls  of,  15. 

Aurelius,  Marcus,  58 ;  column  of,  109, 
125, 166,  238,  239 ;  bronze  equestrian 
statue  of,  222,  231  fol.  See  Arch. 

Aurelius  Avianius  Symmachus,  L., 
house  of,  45,  77. 

Aventine,  finds  on  the,  61  fol. 

Avidius  Quietus,  house  of,  24. 

Avignon,  seat  of  papacy  at,  198. 

Bacchus,  statue  of  the  Indian,  29. 
Baccio  Pontelli,  buildings  erected  by, 

204. 

S.  Balbina,  church  of,  198. 
Balbus,  L.  Cornelius,  11 ;  capacity  of 

theatre  of,  5;    cryptus  of,  157,  176, 

177. 
Barbarians  not   accountable  for  the 

disappearance  of  Roman  monuments, 

7. 
Bartoli,  extracts  from  the  memoirs  of 

Pietro  Santo,  40,  (i2,  90. 
Basilica  of    Junius    Bassus,  118;    of 

Constantino,   110;    Eudoxiana,  75; 


Jovis,  177  ;  Julia,  22,  36,  91, 157, 191, 

194,  211 ;  Salvatoris  in  Laterano,  33. 

See  Church. 
Bathing  establishment  discovered  on 

the  Esquiline,  28. 
Baths,  of  the  Acque  Albule,  263 ;  of  the 

Julii  Akarii,  152;  of  Licinius  Sura, 

204;  of  Livia  on  the  Palatine,  23. 

See  Thermae. 
Bath-tubs,  pagan,  used  for  holding  the 

relics  of  martyrs,  117. 
Belisarius,  75,  79. 
Belvedere,  204 ;  torso  of,  222. 
Benedict  V.,  VI.,   VIII.,    IX.,   XIV. 

See  Pope. 
Bernini,  Lorenzo,  discovery  made  by, 

41. 

Boniface  IV.,  VI.,  VIII.    See  Pope. 
Borgia.    See  Pope. 
Bove,  Capo  di,  236.    See  Caecilia  Me- 

tella. 
Bramante,  buildings  erected  by,  204 ; 

designs  for  St.  Peter's,  212. 
Bridge,     Aemilian     (Pons    Aemilius, 

Ponte  Rotto),  199,  232,  251;    of  S. 

Angelo  (Aelian),  41,   142  fol.,  177, 

178;    of    Cestius   (S.   Bartolomeo), 

34;    Milvian,  208;    of  Valentinian 

(Ponte    Sisto),    34,    246;    Vatican 

(Pons  Vaticauus  or  Neronianus),  53, 

151,  208. 
Burgus,  the  quarter,  128;    walls  of, 

132  fol.,  136,  177. 
Burial-places.    See  Tombs. 
Byzantine  colony  about  the  Palatine, 

122. 

S.  Caecilia,  church  of,  116. 

Caecilia  Metella,  tomb  of,  92,  96,  191, 

236  fol. 

Caelestinus  II.    See  Pope. 
Caelian,  market  hall  on  (S.   Stefano 

Rotondo),    34,  37;     suffered    from 

Norman-Saracenic  invasion,  162. 
Caesar,  Julius,  statue  of,  232;  statue 

of  a  young,  104. 
Caetani,  the,  201. 
Calcararii,  180  fol.;  headquarters  of, 

193. 
Cameos.    See  Gems. 


INDEX  OP  SUBJECTS 


269 


Campagna,  153;  outlaws  of ,  158 ;  final 
desolation  of,  101. 

Campo  di  Fieri,  5. 

Canale  di  Fiumicino,  33. 

Capitolium,  12,  143,  145,  153,  189,  248, 
264.  See  Museum. 

Caracalla,  22.    See  Thermae. 

Carinae,  201. 

S.  Carlo  al  Corso,  church  of,  254. 

Cartularia,  Turris,  121,  201. 

Caryatides  of  Diogenes,  111. 

Casal  Rotondo,  237. 

Casino  dei  Quattro  Venti,  16. 

Cassino,  Monte,  cathedral  of,  184  fol. 

Cassiodorius,  38,  77  fol.,  183. 

Castor  and  Pollux,  statues  of,  232  fol. 

Catacombs,  abandoned  after  the  Gothic 
invasion,  70, 91 ;  devasted  by  the  bar- 
baria  ns,  70  f ol . ;  who  encamped  about 
the  entrance  to,  71 ;  restorations  of, 
71 ;  relics  of  martyrs  transferred 
from,  106,  115  fol. 

Cathedrals,  partially  built  of  Roman 
marbles ;  Aix-la-Chapelle,  183 ;  Pisa, 
and  others,  184  fol. ;  Westminster 
Abbey,  187  fol. 

Celer,  Nero's  architect,  19 ;  his  mauso- 
leum and  epitaph,  20. 

Celestine  IV.    See  Pope. 

S.  Celso  in  Banchi,  church  of,  151,  208. 

SS.  Celso  and  Giuliauo,  church  of,  213. 

Cemeteries,  ancient,  covered  over,  15, 
10;  cameos  and  gems  found  on  the 
sites  of  Christian,  94  fol. 

S.  Cesario  in  Palatio,  church  of,  106, 
120;  monasterium  of,  120. 

Cespian  hill,  40. 

Cestius,  Gaius,  tomb  of,  96,  178. 

Cestius  (S.  Bartolomeo),  bridge  of,  34. 

Christopher.    See  Pope. 

Church,  of  S.  Agatha,  145,  147;  S. 
Agnese,  20,  32  (Piazza  Navoua),  246, 
256;  S.  Agostino,  204;  S.  Alessio, 
254 ;  S.  Ambrogio,  253 ;  S.  Anastasia 
(Anastasis,  the  Resurrection),  122, 
175,  176,  254,  256;  S.  Andrea  at 
Amalfi,  184 ;  S.  Andrea  della  Frate, 
264 ;  St.  Andrew  at  the  Manger,  118 ; 
S.  Andrea  della  Valle,  4,  259,  264; 
SS.  Andreae  et  Gregorii  ad  Clivum 


Scaurnm,  121;  S.  Apollinare,  24(5, 
254;  SS.  Apostoli,  116,  204,  245,  254, 
263;  of  the  Aracoeli,  220;  S.  Balbina, 
198;  S.  Caecilia,  116;  S.  Carlo  al 
Corso,  254;  S.  Celso  in  Banchi,  151, 
208;  SS.  Celso  e  Giuliano,  213;  S. 
Cesario  in  Palatio,  106,  120;  S.  Cir- 
iaco  (S.  Cyriacus),  91,  137,  147;  S. 
Clemente,  33,  162  ;  SS.  Cosma  e 
Damiano,  37, 110,  118  (Subiaco),137, 
254,  2.~6 ;  S.  Croce  in  Gerusalemme, 
246,  254;  S.  Dionysius,  110,  139;  S. 
Donatus,  213;  S.  Euplos,  122;  S. 
Euphemia  in  Vico  Patricii,  145,  148; 
S.  Eustachio,  191  ;  S.  Francesca 
Romana,  175;  Gesii,  263;  S.  Galla 
Patricia,  177;  S.  Giacomo  del  Col- 
osseo,  89 ;  S.  Giacomo  Scossa-Cavalli, 
178;  S.  Giorgio  in  Velabro,  122,  125, 
241 :  S.  Giovanni  dei  Fiorentini,  264 ; 
(see  St.  John) ;  S.  Giovanni  e  Paolo, 
254;  S.  Girolamo  degli  Sehiavoni, 
239;  S.  Gregorio,  254;  St.  Hadrian 
(S.  Adriano),  110,  123,  145,  147,  165, 
175,  253,  256;  S.  Ignazio,  256;  St. 
John  Lateran,  123, 159,  206,  207, 234, 
239,  244,  246,  251  (see  Lateran);  St. 
Lawrence,  110  ;  S.  Laurentius  in 
Porticu  Maiore,  178;  of  the  Ordo, 
178;  S.  Laurentius  in  Damaso,  145; 
S.  Laurentius  in  Pensilis,  147;  S. 
Laurentius  in  Formoso,  145,  148:  S. 
Laurentius  in  Prasino,  145,  146;  S. 
Lorenzo  fuori  le  Mura  (St.  Lawrence 
on  the  Via  Tiburtina),  33,  40,  132, 
136,  264;  S.  Lorenzo  in  Panisperna, 
246 ;  S.  Lucia  de  Calcarario  (S.  Lucia 
dei  Ginnasi),  193;  S.  Lucia  in  Selce, 
142,  147;  S.  Marcello,  90;  Marcelli, 
213;  S.  Maria  dell'  Anima,  25!);  S. 
Maria  Antiqua,  110  ;  S.  Maria  in 
Campitelli,  91 ;  S.  Maria  in  Cosme- 
din,  34,  176,  208  ;  S.  Maria  delle 
Grazie,  91 ;  S.  Maria  Liberatrice, 
120;  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  175,  204, 
239,  241,  255,  264;  S.  Maria  ad 
Martyres  (Pantheon),  90,  110  fol., 
115;  S.  Maria  in  Monticelli,  165;  S. 
Maria  Nova,  103;  S.  Maria  Nuova, 
91,  175,  246;  S.  Maria  della  Pace, 


270 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


204,  260;  S.  Maria  in  Pallara,  25(5; 
S.  Maria  del  Popolo,  204,  259;  S. 
Maria  in  Schola  Greca,  122 ;  S.  Maria 
del  Sole,  12 ;  S.  Maria  Transpontina, 
178;  S.  Maria  in  Trastevere,  152; 
S.  Maria  in  Via  Lata,  139,  210;  S. 
Maria  in  Virgari,  178;  S.  Martina, 
110,  118,  231,  253  ;  S.  Martino  ai 
Monti,  79;  S.  Michele  in  Borgo, 
117;  La  Minerva,  171,  205,  245;  St. 
Nicholas,  169 ;  St.  Nicolaus  in  Cal- 
caria  (S.  Nicolo  ai  Cesarini),  193; 
S.  Nicolo  in  Calcarario,  90;  S.  Nicolo 
dei  Lorenesi,  262;  S.  Orso,  151;  St. 
Pancras,  79,  243;  S.  Pantaleo  ai 
Monti,  165;  (see  Pantheon  =  Roton- 
da  ;)  St.  Paul's  without  the  walls  (S. 
Paolo  fuori  le  Mura),  33, (50, 117, 128, 
132,  135  fol.,  143,  181 ;  St.  Peter's.  8, 
52,  60,  72,  117,  122,  128,  151,  175,  177, 
178,  191,  208,  212,  213,  217,  219,  253, 
262;  S.  Phocas,  122;  S.  Pietro  in 
Montorio,  190,  204,  261 ;  S.  Pietro  in 
Vincoli,  75,  148,  204;  S.  Prisca,  HI ; 
S.  Praesede,  11(5;  S.  Pudens  in  Vico 
Patricio,  145,  148  ;  S.  Pudenziana, 
246:  SS.  Quaranta  de  Calcarario  (S. 
Francesco  delle  Stimulate),  193;  SS. 
Quatro  Coronati,  165,  181 ;  SS.  Qui- 
rico  e  Giolitta,  147 ;  S.  Rocco,  263 ; 
S.  Saba,  122;  S.  Sabina,  61;  S.  Sal- 
vatore  in  Campo,  256;  S.  Salvator 
de  Porticu,  178 ;  S.  Salvatore  in  Pri- 
micerio,  1(55 ;  of  the  Saviour,  110;  S. 
Sebastiano  in  Pallara,  91 ;  S.  Sebas- 
tiano  alia  Polveriera,  121 ;  SS.  Ser- 
gius  et  Bacchus,  110, 145, 14(5 ;  S.  Sil- 

""^vestro  in  Capite  (St.  Sylvester) ,  139, 
166,219,245;  Sistine  Chapel,  204;  S. 
Stefano  delle  Carozze,  12  ;  S.  Ste- 
fano  Rotondo,  34,  37 ;  S.  Susanna, 
242;  S.  Teodoro,  117,  122,  264;  S. 
"Vibiana,  116,  25(5;  S.  Vitalis  in  Vico 
Longo,  145,  148,  192. 

Churches  outside  the  walls  abandoned, 
126.  See  Cathedrals. 

Circus  Maximns,  4,  17,  19,  48,  66,  143, 
151,  170, 176, 191,207;  Flaminius,  66, 
145,  14(5,  147,  157,  193 ;  of  Nero,  32. 

S.  Ciriaco  (S.  Cyriacus).    See  Church. 


Civita  Castellana,  13,  247. 

Civitas  Leonina.    See  Burgus. 

Claudia  Vera,  house  of,  24. 

Claudius  (Caelian) ,  temple  of,  208, 261 ; 
bust  of,  196. 

Claudius  Claudianus,  house  of,  24. 

Clement  VII,  VIII.    See  Pope. 

S.  Clemente,  church  of,  33,  162. 

Clergy,  ignorance  of  the  Roman,  117. 

Clivus  Argentarius,  147  ;  Capitolinus, 
34;  Sacer,  22,  3(5;  Scauri,  19;  Sub- 
urauus,  63, 147 ;  Victoriae,  120. 

Clodius  Hermogenianus,  36. 

Coliseum  (Flavian  Amphitheatre), 
28,  34,  48,  77,  89,  125,  175,  191,  201, 
20(5,  207,  208,  211,  251. 

Collegium  Fortnuae  Felicis,  offices  of, 
27. 

Colonna  family,  199. 

Comes  formarum  urbis,  78. 

Comes  port'its  urbis  Romae,7B. 

Commodus,  bust  of,  222. 

Compital  shrines,  adorned  by  Augus- 
tus, 38. 

Concord,  temple  of,  110,  20(5. 

Conflagrations,  described  by  Livy,  16 ; 
under  the  Emperor  Nero,  in  64  A.D., 
17  fol. ;  traces  of  this  fire,  19 :  in  the 
Forum  Romanum,  21  fol.;  in  the 
reign  of  Titus,  80  A.D.,  22,  28;  in 
the  reign  of  Commodus,  191  A.D., 
22;  in  the  reign  of  Carinus  in  283 
A.D.,  22;  in  1084  A.D.,  160  fol. 

Constans  II.,  visit  to  Rome  in  663  A.D., 
8,  92,  111,  123  fol. 

Constantia,  mausoleum  of,  32. 

Constantine,  29;  dismantled  earlier 
buildings,  31 ;  and  erected  the  basil- 
ica of  St.  Peter's,  31  fol. ;  regionary 
catalogue  compiled  in  the  time  of, 
48;  equestrian  statues  of,  145,  153; 
statues  of,  222.  See  Arch,  Basilica, 
Thermae. 

Constantius  II.,  34,  47  fol. 

Corneto,  treasures  from,  247. 

Cornificius,  Lucius,  11. 

Corridojo  cli  Castello,  133. 

Cortile  di  Belvedere,  90. 

Cortina  beati  Petri,  178. 

SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano.    See  Church. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


271 


Cosmatis,  school  of,  34,  180  fol.,  203. 

Cosmus,  house  of,  58. 

Craticulae  Templum,  177. 

Crescenzi,  the,  200. 

S.  Croce  in  Gerusalemme,  church  of, 

2445,  254. 

Curator  Statuarum,  34. 
Curia.    See  Senate-house. 
Cybele,  statue  of,  70,  112. 
Cypress,  the,  145  fol. 

S.  Damaso,  court  of,  204. 

Damasns.    See  Pope. 

Dea  Dia,  temple  of,  208. 

Decii.    See  Thermae. 

Decius  Albinus,  Caecina,  Gl ;   Marius 

Venantius  Basilius,  77 ;    Trajauus, 

28. 
"  Destruction  "  and  "  Disappearance  " 

of  Roman  monuments,  distinction  in 

meaning,  4. 
Destruction  of  Roman  villas,  causes 

of,  101 ;  of  monuments  in  Roman  and 

in  modern  times,  189  fol. 
Destruction    of    Rome,    three    facts 

prominent  in  the  history  of,  13  fol. 
Diocletian,   29;    repairs   buildings  in 

the  Forum,  22;  triumph  of,  49  fol. ; 

statue  of,  104.    See  Thermae. 
St.  Dionysius,  church  of,  110,  139. 
Domitian.  house  of,  on  the  Palatine, 

119;  villa  of,  186. 

Domus  Gaiana,  120 ;  Pinciana,  38,  183. 
St.  Donatus,  church  of,  213. 

Elephantus  Herbarius,  176. 

Ephebus,  statuette  of,  196. 

Equestrian  group,  pedestal  of,  found 
in  Forum,  50. 

Esquiline  hill,  covered  over  and  raised 
by  Augustus,  14 ;  the  event  com- 
memorated by  Horace,  15 ;  market- 
place on,  34 ;  gate  of,  147. 

Eugenius,  defeat  of,  35. 

Eugenius  IV.    See  Pope. 

S.  Euphemia  in  Vico  Patricii,  church 
of,  145,  148. 

S.  Euplos,  church  of,  122. 

S.  Eustachio,  church  of,  191. 

Euterpe,  statue  of,  104. 


Eventus  Bonus,  colonnade  of,  4. 

Excavations,  in  the  time  of  Pope  Eu- 
genius IV.,  112 ;  of  Sixtus  IV.,  66 ;  of 
Innocent  VIII.,  103;  of  Pius  IV.,  5, 
61;  in  1724  (Palatine),  119;  in  1762 
(Villa  Quintiliorum),  103;  in  1780 
(Appian  Way),  105;  in  time  of  Pope 
Pius  VI.,  104 ;  by  Carlo  Torlonia,  104 ; 
in  1849,  69;  in  1855,  105;  in  1862,  5; 
in  1864,  66;  in  1867-68  (at  Ostia), 
127;  in  1869  (Palatine),  119, 196,  (Via 
Severiana),  93;  in  1873  (Esquiline), 
28;  in  1875  (Esquiline),  94;  in  1876, 
5;  in  1877  (near  the  Coliseum),  19, 
(Via  Xazionale),  23;  in  1879  (Ther- 
mae of  Constantine),  24  ;  in  1880 
(Site  of  the  English  Church),  69;  in 
1883  (House  of  the  Vestals),  121, 
196;  by  Boccanera  in  1883-84,  105; 
in  1885  (Teatro  Drammatico) ,  66; 
in  1886,  13,  (Piazza  Bocca  della  Ver- 
ita),  17,  (Esquiline),  42;  in  1887, 14; 
in  1888  (Temple  of  Isis),  42;  in  1891, 
4;  in  1892  (garden  of  S.  Sabina), 
58;  in  1895  (near  the  Coliseum),  89; 
in  1896  (Piazza  Bocca  della  Ver- 
ita),  39;  in  the  Vigna  Torlonia  and 
Vigna  Maciocchi,  57. 

Fabbrica  di  S.  Pietro,  228,  235. 

Fabii,  tomb  of  the,  31. 

Fabius  Felix  Passifilus  Paulinns,  36; 

Titianus,  36. 

Factionis  Prasinae  Stabula,  146. 
Falerii,  13. 

Fates,  group  of  the  Three,  87. 
Ficoroni,  Francesco  di,  41,  91  fol. 
Flavinus  Philippus,  151. 
Fontana,  Domenico  (architect  of  Sixtus 

V.),  85,  238,  240,  241. 
Formosus.    See  Pope. 
Forum  of  Augustus,  112. 
Forum  Boarium,  12,  16 ;  arch  of  the, 

34,  125,  201,  209,  235,  241. 
Forum  Holitorium,  159, 177. 
Forum  Julium,  22,  207,  208. 
Forum  Romanum,  21  fol.,  34, 110, 120, 

143,  145,  147,  153, 165,  199,  246. 
Forum  of  Trajan,  15,  47,  145, 152,  199. 
Forum  Transitorium,  157,  212,  255. 


272 


INDEX  OF   SUBJECTS 


S.  Francesca  Romana,  church  of,  175. 
S.  Francesco  delle  Stimulate,  church 

of,  193. 
Frangipani,  the,  121,  199,  201. 

Gabinius  Vettius  Probianus,  36. 

Gaianum,  87. 

S.  Galla  Patricia,  church  of,  177. 

Gallienus,  32. 

Ganymede,  statue  of,  104. 

Gardens,  Licinian,  15;   of  Maecenas, 

12 ;  of  Sallust,  171. 
Gelssius  II.    See  Pope. 
Gems  and  cameos,  engraved,  usually 

found  near  the  sites  of  cemeteries, 

94fol. 
Genseric  and  the  Vandals,  74  fol.,  119, 

455. 

Gesii,  church  of,  263. 
S.  Giacomo  del  Colosseo,  church  of, 

89;  Scossa-Cavalli,  178. 
Gildo,  Count,  50. 

S.  Giorgio  in  Velabro.     See  Church. 
S.  Giovanni,  hospital  of,  240. 
S.  Giovanni  dei  Fiorentini,  church  of, 

264 ;  e  Paolo,  254. 
S.  Giovanni,  in  Florence,  baptistery 

of,  184. 
S.  Girolamo  degli  Schiavoni,  church 

of,  239. 

Gladiator,  bronze  statue  of,  66. 
Golden  House  of  Nero,  23. 
Gordian,  the  younger,  villa  of,  on  the 

Via  Praenestina,  6. 
Gothic  wars,  monument  relating  to,  50. 
Goths,  signs  of  the  pillage  of  Rome  by 

the,  58. 

Graecorum  Ecclesia  et  Schola,  176. 
Grain  Exchange,  34. 
Gratianus,  34,  35.     See  Arch. 
Gregorian  Chapel,  in  St.  Peter's.  262. 
S.  Gregorio,  church  of,  254. 
Gregoriopolis,  120  fol. 
Gregory  the  Great,  Gregory  III.,  IV., 

VI.,  VII.,  IX.,  XL,  XIII.,  XVI.    See 

Pope. 
Guiscard,  Robert,  159  fol. 

Hadrian,  bust  of,  32.    See  Mausoleum. 
St.  Hadrian.    See  Church. 


Hadrian  I.,  III.    See  Pope. 

Harpocrates,  head  of,  196. 

Hathor,  replica  of  the  sacred  cow,  43, 
44. 

St.  Helena,  tomb  of,  72. 

Henry  IV.,  Emperor,  100. 

Heracles,  torso  of,  222. 

Heraclius,  118,  119,  122. 

Hercules,  Farnese,  44;  Invictus,  statue 
of,  66 ;  Magnus  Gustos,  bronze  statue 
of,  66;  Olivarius,  statue  of,  39;  Vic- 
tor, 209. 

Honorius,  50,  53,  55,  72.    See  Arch. 

Honorius.    See  Pope. 

Horse,  bronze,  of  the  Palazzo  dei  Con- 
servatori,  69. 

Horse-tamers,  group  of,  145,  147,  222, 
238. 

S.  Ignazio,  church  of,  256. 

Innocent  II.,  III.,  VII.,  VIII.  See 
Pope. 

Inscriptions,  of  the  Einsiedlen  Itiner- 
ary, 151  fol. ;  of  Benedict,  174  fol. 

Isis.    See  Temple. 

Itinerary,  Einsiedlen,  142  fol.,  174  fol. ; 
of  Benedict,  174  fol. 

Janus,  bronze  statue  of,  87;  temple 
of,  110. 

Janus  Quadrifrons,  arch  of,  125,  201, 
211. 

Jerusalem,  spoils  from  the  temple  of, 
57. 

Johannipolis,  136. 

St.  John  Lateran.  See  Church,  Lateran . 

John  VH.,  VIII.,  IX.,  X.,  XL,  XII.  See 
Pope. 

Julia  Domna,  22,  104. 

Julian,  the  Apostate,  48. 

Julii  Akarii,  baths  of,  152. 

Julius  II.,  III.     See  Pope. 

Juno,  temple  of,  61,  265. 

Jupiter  Optimus  Maxim  us,  see  Tem- 
ple ;  Stator,  temple  of,  18,  121. 

Kilns.    See  Lime-kilns. 

Laocoon,  replica  of,  41;  finding  of, 
211,  222,  223. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


273 


Lateran,  the,  106,  160,  166,  175,  219, 
231,  242  fol.,  254.  See  Church,  under 
St.. John  Lateran. 

I  .:t lit  in niac,  16. 

S.  Laurentius,  in  Damaso,  church  of, 
145;  in  Formoso,  145,  148;  of  the 
Ordo,  178;  in  Pensilis,  147;  in  Por- 
ticu  Maiore,  178;  in  Prasino,  145, 
146;  on  the  Via  Tiburtiua  (S.  Lo- 
renzo fuori  le  Mura).  See  Church. 

Leo  II.,  UI.,  IV.,  V.,  X.,  XIII.  See 
Pope. 

Leonine  wall,  133  fol. 

Level  of  the  city,  rise  in,  53,  54. 

Lex  Regia,  234. 

Liber  Politicus  of  Benedict,  174. 

Liber  Censuum,  176. 

Licinian  gardens,  15. 

Ligorio,  Pirro,  192,  194. 

Lime-burners,  180  fol. 

Lime-kilns,  of  Rome,  193  fol. ;  Palace 
of  Tiberius,  195  fol.;  Atrium  of 
Vesta,  196 ;  of  Ostia  and  Porto,  194 
fol. 

Li  via,  baths  of,  on  the  Palatine,  23; 
villa  of,  at  Prima  Porta,  194 ;  market 
of,  152. 

Loggia  of  Squarcialupi,  248. 

S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le  Mura.    See  Church. 

S.  Lorenzo,  in  Pauisperna,  church  of, 
246. 

Lucca,  cathedral  of,  184. 

S.  Lucia  de  Calcarario  (S.  Lucia  dei 
Ginnasi),  193;  in  Selce,  142,  147. 

Lucilius  Paetus,  tomb  of,  92. 

Lysippus,  8,  87. 

Maecenas,  gardens  of,  12. 
Magna  Mater,  117. 
Maioranus,  edict  of,  75. 
Marble-cutters,  180  fol. ;  plan  of  the 

city,  18. 
Marbles,  traffic  in  Roman,  181  fol.; 

tolerated  by  public  officials,  190  fol. 
Marcella,  house  of,  58 ;  fate  of,  59,  60. 
Marcelli,  church  of  the,  213. 
S.  Marcello,  church  of,  90. 
Marcellus.    See  Theatre. 
S.  Maria,  dell'  Auima,  church  of,  25!) ; 

Antiqua,    110;    in   Campitelli,    91; 


in  Cosmedin  (see  Church) ;  delle 
Grazie,  91;  Liberatrice,  120;  Mag- 
giore  (see  Church) ;  ad  Martyres 
(Pantheon)  (see  Church) ;  in  Monti- 
celli,  165;  Nova,  103;  Nuova  (see 
Church);  della  Pace,  204,  260;  in 
Pallara,  256;  del  Popolo,  204,  259; 
in  Schola  Graeca,  122;  del  Sole,  12; 
Transpontiua,  178;  in  Trastevere, 
152;  in  Via  Lata,  139,  210;  in  Vir- 
gari,  178. 

Marinus  I.,  II.    See  Pope. 

Market  hall  of  theCaelian  (S.  Stefano 
Rotondo),  34,  37;  on  the  Esquiline, 
35. 

Marmorarii,  180  fol. 

Marmorata,  La,  33,  246,  264. 

Martin  V.    See  Pope. 

S.  Martina.    See  Church. 

S.  Martino  ai  Monti,  church  of,  79. 

Mater  Matuta,  temple  of,  12,  39. 

Matteo  da  Castello,  architect  of  Pius 
IV.,  61 ;  of  Sixtus  V.,  85,  240,  252. 

S.  Matte"o  at  Salerno,  cathedral  of, 
184. 

Mauritius,  106. 

Mausoleum,  of  Augustus,  170, 17C,  199 ; 
of  Constantia,  32;  of  Hadrian,  8,  87, 
151,  186,  189,  208,  210,  256,  262;  of 
the  Empress  Helena,  246. 

Maxentius,  22,  31. 

Mediaeval  Rome,  desolation  of,  178  fol. 

Mellini,  199. 

Meta  di  Borgo,  178. 

Meta  Sudans,  30. 

S.  Michele  in  Borgo,  church  of,  117. 

Minerva,  statue  of,  29;  temple  of,  255. 

Minerva  Medica  (so  called),  temple  of, 
95. 

Minerva,  La.    See  Church. 

Mirabilia  Urbis  Romae,  175. 

Mithras,  temple  of,  245. 

Mole.    See  Mausoleum. 

Moletta,  La,  17. 

Monte  Giordano,  5 ;  de'  Cenci,  5. 

Moon,  temple  of  the,  17. 

Moors  of  Frassineto,  158. 

Moses,  fountain  of,  239. 

Mosileos,  the  imperial  mausoleum  of 
the  Decadence,  72. 


274 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS 


Municipal  authorities  favor  the  preser- 
vation of  monuments,  228  fol. 

Museum,  Capitoline,  18,  228,  256;  al 
Celio,  13,  90;  villa  di  Giulio  III.,  13; 
Torlonia,  105;  Vatican,  90,  104,  257; 
See  Palazzo  del  Conservator!. 

Myron,  cow  of,  87. 

Naevius,   Lucius  Clemens,  house  of. 

24. 
Natural  agencies  in  the  demolition  of 

ancient  buildings,  7. 
Nero,  4 ;  thermae  of,  14 ;  set  the  city 

on  fire,  17  fol. ;  traces  of  this  fire,  19 ; 

Golden  House  of,  23 ;  Circus  of,  32 ; 

bust  of,  19G. 

Neroue,  Sepoltura  di,  158. 
Neronis  Obeliscus,  177. 
St.  Nicholas,  church  of,  169. 
Nicolas  I.,  V.    See  Pope. 
S.  Nicolaus  in  Calcaria  (S.  Nicolo  ai 

Cesarini) ,  church  of,  193, 
S.  Nicolo,  in  Calcarario,  church  of,  90 ; 

dei  Lorenesi,  262. 
Nile,  figure  of,  222. 
Normanni,  199. 
Norman-Saracenic  invasion,  159  fol. ; 

traces  of,  162  fol. 
Nymphaeum,  151. 

Obelisk,  of  Thothmes  III.  removed  to 
Rome  by  Constantino  II.,  48 ;  of  the 
Vatican,  148,  169,  238;  in  the  Cam- 
pus Martius,  169,  171  fol. ;  from  the 
Circus  Maximus,  170;  from  the  Mau- 
soleum of  Augustus,  170 ;  of  the  gar- 
dens of  Sallust,  171 ;  of  the  temple 
of  Isis,  173;  manner  of  the  fall  of, 
169  fol. ;  of  the  Piazza  del  Popolo, 
239. 

Obeliscus  Neronis,  177. 

Octavia.    See  Porticus. 

Odeum,  5,  48. 

Oppian,  165. 

Oratories  of  the  Lateran  destroyed  by 
Sixtus  V.,  242  fol. 

Oratorium  Sacrae  Crucis,  243  fol. 

Ordo  Romanus,  174  fol. 

Orsini,  the,  199. 

S.  Orso,  church  of,  151. 


Orvieto,  cathedral  of,  184  fol. 
Ostia,  19,  33,  93,  126,  137, 184,  186,  194, 
206,  208,  235,  246. 

Pactumeii,  palace  of  the,  58. 

Pagan  edifices  converted  into  Christian 
churches,  37. 

Pagan  cults,  representation  of,  'in 
Christian  churches,  117  fol. 

Palace,  of  Septimius  Severus,  3;  of 
the  Caesars  in  the  seventh  century, 
119,  235;  of  Augustus  on  the  Pala- 
tine, 263  fol. 

Palatine,  remains  of  private  houses  on 
the,  23;  late  occupancy  of,  119  fol.; 
desolation  of,  199 ;  possessed  by  the 
Frangipani,  201. 

Palatiolum,  208. 

Palazzo,  della  Cancelleria,  191,  204, 
211,  239;  dei  Conservatori,  13,  222, 
231,  232 ;  di  Corneto,  191 ;  Farnese, 
191,  263;  Giraud-Torlonia,  178,  204, 
211 ;  del  Governo  Vecchio,  204 ;  Ros- 
pigliosi,  255. 

Palilia,  228. 

Pallacinae,  147. 

Palladium,  monastery  called,  121. 

St.  Pancras,  church  of,  79,  243. 

S.  Pantaleo  ai  Monti,  church  of,  165. 

Pantheon,  4,  9,  37,  41,  48,  90,  106,  110 
fol.,  119,  124,  125,  145,  146,  200,  245, 
254,  256,  264. 

S.  Paolo  fuori  le  Mura.    See  Church. 

Papi,  the,  199. 

Paschal  I.,  II.    See  Pope. 

Patriarchium,  pontifical  residence  at 
the  Lateran,  242  fol. 

St.  Paul,  tomb  of,  129  fol. 

St.  Paul's  without  the  walls.  See 
Church. 

Paul  II.,  III.,  V.    See  Pope. 

Peace,  temple  of,  57. 

Penates,  temple  of,  110,  223. 

Peregrinorum  Castra,  264. 

St.  Peter,  gate  of,  145,  177 ;  tomb  of, 
129  fol.,  221,  224;  chapel  to,  110. 

St.  Peter's,  church  of.    See  Church. 

Petrarch,  182. 

Petronilla,  tomb  of,  72. 

Phidias,  8,  87. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


275 


Philippus,  Marcius,  11. 

Phocas,  37,  106  fol.,  120. 

S.  Phocas,  church  of,  122. 

Piazza  Navona.    See  Stadium. 

Pierleoni,  the,  199. 

Pietas,  shrine  of,  10,  159, 177. 

S.  Pietro,  in  Montorio ;  in  Vincoli.  See 
Church. 

"  Pilgrim's  Pence,"  157. 

Pinturicchio,  frescoes  of,  221,  222. 

Pisa,  cathedral  of,  184. 

Pisidius  Romulus,  52. 

Pius  II..  IV.,  V.,  VI.,  VII.,  IX.  See 
Pope. 

Poggio  Bracciolini,  205  fol. 

Pompey.    See  Theatre. 

Pope  Alexander  VI.,  55,  177,  178,  204, 
205, 210, 211,  225 ;  Alexander  VII.,  96, 
123,  253,  256;  Benedict  III.,  131,  139; 
Benedict  V.,  154;  Benedict  VI.,  155; 
Benedict  VIII.,  154;  Benedict  IX., 
155;  Benedict  XIV.,  111,254;  Boni- 
face IV.,  37,  110,  112,  115;  Boniface 
VI.,  154 ;  Boniface  VIII.,  98,  234,  243 ; 
Boniface  IX.,  213;  Borgia,  133;  Cae- 
lestinus  II.,  174,  194 ;' Celestine  IV., 
213;  Christopher  I.,  155;  Clement 
VII.,  133, 222, 225 :  Clement  VIII.,  244 
fol.;  Damasus,  146;  Eugenius  IV., 
112,  203,  204,  207,  213 ;  Formosus, 
154,  155;  Gelasius  II.,  184;  Gregory 
the  Great,  88,  101;  Gregory  III., 
112  ;  Gregory  IV.,  126  fol.;  Gregory 
VI.,  155  ;  Gregory  VII.,  154,  160,  162; 
Gregory  IX.,  213;  Gregory  XL,  198; 
Gregory  XIII.,  151,  235,  251,  262; 
Gregory  XVI.,  155;  Hadrian  I.,  243; 
Hadrian  III.,  155  ;  Honorius  I.,  8, 122, 
147;  Innocent  II.,  174;  Innocent  III., 
201;  Innocent  VII.,  213,  219;  Inno- 
cent VIII.,  103,  203,  210,  225;  John 
VII.,  120,  219  ;  John  VIII.,  135  fol., 
154 ;  John  IX.,  155;  John  X.,  154, 155 ; 
John  XI.,  156;  John  XII.,  155;  Julius 
II.,  211,  212,  217,  222;  Julius  III.,  36; 
Leo  II.,  116;  Leo  III.,  131,  183;  Leo 
IV.,  131, 133, 136  fol. ;  Leo  V.,  155 ;  Leo 
X.,  211,  213,  217,  222  ;  Leo  XIII.,  135, 
222;  Marinus  I.,  154,  160;  Marinus 
II.,  121 ;  Martin  V.,  204, 206  ;  Nicolas 


I.,  201,  242 ;  Nicolas  V.,  204,  206,  207, 
212, 213;  Paschal  I.,  116;  Paschal  II., 
165 ;  Paul  II.,  203,  204,  208;  Paul  III., 
33,  96,  191,  225,  228;  Paul  V.,  122, 
219,  253,  255;  Pius  II.,  217,  225;  Pius 
IV.,  5,  55, 178,  232,  259,  261 ;  Pius  V., 
227,  239:  Pius  VI.,  104;  Pius  VII., 
189,  194,  218;  Pius  IX.,  55,  189,  219  ; 
Romanus,  155;  Sergius  I.,  123;  Ser- 
giusll.,  127,  130;  Sergius  III.,  155; 
Silverius,  70;  Sixtus  IV.,  55, 203,  204, 
209,  217,  222;  Sixtus  V.,  82,  148,  170, 
235,  237  fol.;  Stephen  II.,  72,  118; 
Stephen  V.,  116;  Stephen  VI.,  155, 159; 
Sylvester  III.,  155;  Symmachus,  20; 
Theodore  I.,  242;  Theodore  II.,  154; 
Urban  VIII.,  55,  111,  201,  253,  256; 
Vigilius,  71 ;  Vitalianus,  112,  124. 

Popes  destroy  ancient  monuments  to 
rebuild  Christian  churches,  206  fol. 

Porta  Appia,  143 ;  Asinaria,  143,  165 ; 
Aurelia,  143,  145 :  Capena,  31 ;  Col- 
lina,  177 ;  Flaminia,  54, 143, 160, 165 ; 
Furba,  86;  Metroni,  143;  Nomen- 
tana,  143;  Ostiensis,  54 ;  Portuensis, 
53,  54;  Praenestina,  53,  54,  143; 
Salaria,  142;  Septimiana,  54;  Ti- 
burtina,  53,  54, 143, 160, 190 ;  Vimina- 
lis,  143. 

Porticus,  in  the  Via  Bocca  della  Verita, 
176;  Crinorum,  177;  Eventus  Boni, 
259;  Gallatorum,  176;  Maior  (Via 
Sacra),  178 ;  Maximae,  of  Gratian,  34 ; 
Minucia,  177;  of  Octavia,  28,  176, 
186,  187,  208;  of  Philippus,  176. 

Porto.  128, 137,  186,  195,  235,  264. 

Portus  Licini,  78. 

Postumius,  M.  Festus,  house  of,  24. 

Praedia  Aemiliaua,  18. 

S.  Praesede,  church  of,  116. 

Praetorian  camp,  89. 

Principia,  house  of,  58. 

S.  Prisca,  church  of,  61. 

Prothi  Ascesa,  147. 

S.  Pudens  in  Vico  Patricio,  church  of, 
145,  148. 

S.  Pudenziana,  church  of,  246. 

SS.  Quaranta  de  Calcarario  (S.  Fran- 
cesco delle  Stimmate),  church  of, 
193. 


276 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


SS.  Quatro  Coronati,  church  of,  165, 

181. 
SS.  Quirico  e  Giolitta,  church  of, 

147. 
Quirinal,  called  '  Monte  Cavallo,'  147; 

marble  statues  on,  166;  river  gods 

of,  222. 

Ranncci  Romano,  180. 

Raphael,  tapestries  of,  217  foi. ;  frescoes 

of,  221,  222. 
Record  office,  37. 
Regia,  18, 194. 
Regiouary  Catalogue  of  the  time  of 

Constantino,  48. 
Remi  Meta,  178. 
Rhadagaisus,  50. 
Rienzi,  Cola  di,  234. 
S.  Rocco,  church  of,  263. 
Roma  Vecchia,  104. 
Romani,  the,  199. 
Romanus.    See  Pope. 
Romuli,  Sepulcrum,  178,  210. 
Romulus,  Heroon  of,  110,  123,  256. 
Rospigliosi  gardens,  24. 
De  Rossi's  account,  83,  84. 
Rotondo,  church  of  the.    See  Pantheon. 
Ruins  of  Romau  villas,  stratification 

of,  101. 

S.  Saba,  church  of,  122. 

S.  Sabina,  church  of,  61 ;  garden  of, 
58. 

Sacra  Via.  See  Via. 

Sacrae  Urbis  Templum,  208,  256. 

Sallust,  gardens  of,  58,  89,  261. 

S.  Salvator  de  Porticu,  church  of,  178. 

S.  Salvatore  in  Campo,  church  of,  256. 

S.  Salvatore  in  Primicerio,  church  of, 
165. 

Sanctus  Angelus,  176. 

Sanguigni,  the,  199. 

Saracens,  traces  of  the  camp  of,  137 ; 
in  the  St.  Bernard  Pass,  158. 

Sarcophagi,  used  to  hold  relics  of  mar- 
tyrs, 117. 

Saturn,  temple  of,  34,  110. 

Savelli,  the,  199. 

Saviour,  church  of  the,  110. 

Schola  Graeca,  143. 


S.  Sebastiano,  in  Pallara,  91  ;  alia  Pol- 
veriera,  121. 

Secretarium  Seuatus,  110,  118,  256. 

Senate-house,  22, 110, 123, 147,  207,  208. 

Sentius  Saturninus,  G.,  shrine  rebuilt 
by,  27. 

Sepolcro  degli  Stucchi,  96. 

Septa  Julia,  208. 

Septimius  Severus,  18, 28 ;  palace  of,  3 ; 
restorations  of,  22,  28.  See  Arch. 

Septizonium,  121,  152,  201,  235,  239. 

Serapeum  of  Alexandria,  (55. 

Sergius  I.,  II.,  III.     See  Pope. 

SS.  Sergius  and  Bacchus.    See  Church. 

Sette  Sale,  246. 

Severus,  architect  of  Nero,  19. 

Severus,  Alexander,  28,  191. 

Silverius.    See  Pope. 

Silverware,  finds  of,  63. 

S.  Silvestro  in  Capite  (St.  Sylvester). 
See  Church. 

Sinibaldi,  the,  199. 

Sistine  Chapel,  204,  218. 

Sixtus  IV.,  V.    See  Pope. 

S.  Spirito,  hospital  of,  204. 

Stadium,  where  now  is  the  Piazza  Na- 
vona,  5,  48,  146,  19!),  246,  262. 

Statilian  family,  Columbaria  of,  94. 

Statilius  Taurus,  11,  199. 

Static  Marmorum,  33. 

Statuary,  removed  from  pagan  places 
of  worship,  36  ;  used  as  rubble,  41 
fol.;  condition  of,  when  discovered, 
45. 

Statues,  hiding  of  bronze,  in  times  of 
panic,  64  fol. ;  concealed  by  magis- 
trates, 65. 

Stefaneschi,  the  199. 

S.  Stefano,  delle  Carozze,  12;  Ro- 
tondo, 34,  37. 

Stephen  II.,  V.,  VI.    See  Pope. 

Stilicho,  50,  53,  56. 

Stratification  of  ruins,  101. 

Streets,  condition  of,  227. 

Studio  of  Greek  sculptors  on  the  Es- 
quiline,  42. 

Subura,  143,  145,  147,  201. 

Sun,  temple  of,  199. 

S.  Susanna,  church  of,  242. 

Sylvester  III.    See  Pope. 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS 


St.  Sylvester.    See  Church. 
Symrnachus.    See  Pope. 

Tabernola,  15. 

Tapestries  of  Raphael,  217  fol. 

Tarpeian  rock,  259. 

Temple,  of  Antoninus  and  Faustina, 
111;  Claudius  (Caelian),  208,  201; 
Concord,  110,  206;  Craticulae,  177; 
Dea  Dia,  208;  Hercules  Victor,  209; 
Hope,  177;  Isis,  42,  112,  171,  173, 
186,  193,  205,  222,  245;  Janus,  110; 
Juno  Regina,  61;  Juno  (Veii),  265; 
Jupiter  Optimus  Maximus,  8, 13,48, 
52,  74,  159, 176, 205,  208,  247,  259  fol. ; 
Jupiter  Stator,  18,  121 ;  Mater  Ma- 
tuta,  12,  39;  Minerva,  255;  Minerva 
Medica  (so  called) ,  95 ;  Mithras,  245 ; 
Moon,  17;  Peace,  57;  Penates,  18; 
Pietas,  10,  159,  177  ;  Romulus,  110, 
123,  256;  Saturn,  34,  110;  Sacrae 
Urbis,  208,  256 ;  Sun,  199;  Venus  and 
Rome,  8,  22,  48,  110,  122,  194,  207, 
246 ;  Venus  in  Calcarario,  245 ;  Venus 
(gardens  of  Sallust) ,  261 ;  Vesta,  18 ; 
Vulcan  (Ostia),  194. 

Temples  closed,  35. 

S.  Teodoro,  church  of,  264. 

Terebinthus,  177. 

Theatre,  of  Balbus,  5;  Marcellus,  101, 
176,  177, 199;  Pompey,  5,  48,  77, 145, 
14(5,  152,  176,  199. 

Theoderic,  38,  77  fol.,  89,  90, 183. 

Theodore  I.,  II.    See  Pope. 

Theodosius,  35,  50.    See  Arch. 

Thermae  (see  Baths) ,  areas  closed  for, 
14 ;  their  building  an  important  fac- 
tor in  the  transformation  of  Rome, 
22  fol. ;  of  Agrippa  (Commodianae), 
145,  146,  193,  245,  259;  of  Caracalla, 
722,  23,  33,  90,  116,  192,  208;  of 
Constantine,  14,  24, 145,  147, 255 ;  of 
the  Decii,  14, 36, 57, 60 ;  of  Diocletian, 
14,  22,  27,  116,  153,  194,  211,  239,  261 ; 
of  Nero,  14 ;  of  Titus,  14,  23,  32,  36, 
262 ;  of  Trajan,  14,  23, 32, 36, 145, 148. 

Tiber,  33;  inundations  of,  139  fol.; 
figure  of,  222 ;  treasures  thrown  into, 
225  fol. 

Tigellinus,  4,  18. 


Titus,  57;  house  of,  211.  See  Arch, 
Thermae. 

Tombs,  fate  of,  91 ;  entrances  con- 
cealed, 95  fol. ;  destruction  of,  190. 

Tombs,  of  the  Apusii,  103;  Arruntii, 
31 ;  Casal  Rotondo,  237 ;  Caecilia 
Metella,  92,  96,  191,  236  fol. ;  Gaius 
Cestius,96,  (Meta  Remi),  178;  Fabii, 
31 ;  on  the  Via  Flaminia,  208 ;  Lu- 
cilius  Paetus,  92;  at  the  Ponte  de41' 
Arco,  236,  237 ;  Romulus,  178 ;  Alex- 
ander Severus,  191 ;  Vergilius  Eury- 
saces,  92 ;  Vibius  Marianns,  92.  See 
Sepolcro. 

Torre,  de'  Conti,  201 ;  Fiscale,  82,  162 ; 
delle  Milizie,  201;  di  Nona,  41; 
Pignatarra,  72,  246;  dei  Schiavi,  7. 

Torrecchiano  Campo,  199,  202. 

Totila,  119,  151. 

Trajan,  arch  of,  31;  channel  of,  33; 
house  of,  57 ;  column  of,  109,  125, 
145,  146,  148,  166,  238.  See  Forum, 
Thermae. 

Treasures,  concealed  at  the  sack  of 
1527,  224  fol. 

Tribunus  Volnptatum,  78. 

Triumph  of  Diocletian,  49  fol. 

Tulliola,  103. 

Turcius  Asterius  Secundus,  63. 

Turris  Chartularia,  121,  201. 

Ugolini  house,  5. 
Umbilicus  Romae,  145. 
Urban  VIII.    See  Pope. 

Vacca,  Flaminio,  extracts  from  me- 
moirs of,  5,  39,  90,  192,  194,  259. 

Valens.    See  Arch. 

Valentinian  I.,  33;  bridge  of  (Ponte 
Sisto) ,  34, 246 ;  prohibited  sacrifices, 
35.  See  Arch. 

Valentinian  III.,  74  fol. 

Valerius  Severus,  59. 

Vassalecti,  180. 

Vatican,  the,  128,  133,  175.  See  Mu- 
seum, St  Peter's. 

Vatican  district  included  in  the  city 
proper,  132. 

Veii,  186. 

Venantius  Fortunatus,  109. 


278 


INDEX  OF  PASSAGES 


Venus,  Venus  and  Rome.     See  Temple. 

Vergilius  Eurysaces,  tomb  of,  92. 

Verus,  Lucius,  statue  of,  104. 

Vespasian,  Lex  Regia  of,  234. 

Vesta,  temple  of,  18 ;  statue  of,  196. 

Vestals,  house  of,  121,  122,  196,  264. 

Via  Appia,  31,  103,  105,  137,  194; 
Aurelia,  16;  Clodia,  158;  Collatina, 
16;  Cornelia,  32;  Labicana,  16,  72; 
Latina,  96,  160,  194;  Nomentana,  20, 
32 ;  Nova,  31 ;  Praenestina,  6 ;  Sacra, 
34,  36,  52,  110,  120,  153,  178, 191,  211; 
Salaria  Vetus,  15,  65,  151 ;  Salaria 
Nova,  15;  Tiburtina,  33 ;  Triumpha- 
lis,  177,  178.  See  Clivus,  Vicus. 

S.  Vibiana,  church  of,  116,  256. 

Vibius  Marianus,  tomb  of,  92. 

Victory,  statue  of,  48. 

Vicus  Capitis  Africae,  151 ;  Patricius, 
240 ;  Portae  Viminalis,  240 ;  Tuscus, 
153. 


Vigilius.    See  Pope. 

Vigna  Barberini,  19,  121 ;   Barberini- 

Spithoever,  89 ;  Ceccarelli,  116 ;  Gri- 

mani  (Barberini), 90;  Maciocchi,57; 

Moroni,  95 ;  Torlonia,  57. 
Villa  Corsmi-Pamfili,  16 ;  Giulia,  191, 

263;  diGiulioIII.  (museo),13;  Gor- 

dianorum  (Via  Praenestina),  6,  7; 

Livia,  194 ;  Quintiliorum,  103  fol. ; 

Voconiorum,  105. 
Vitalianus.     See  Pope. 
S.  Vitalis  in  Vico  Longo,  church  of, 

145,  148, 192. 

Vitiges,  siege  of,  79,  89,  115. 
Volusianus,  Rufus,  33. 
Vulcan,  temple  of  (at  Ostia),  194. 

Wall,  Leonine,  133  fol. ;  of  Aurelian, 
15. 

Zmaragdus,  109. 


II.    INDEX  OF  PASS\GES  AND  INSCRIPTIONS  CITED 


A.    AUTHORS 

AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS 

PAGE 
XVI.  10,  47 

ST.  AUGUSTINE 
Serrno  cv  de  verbis  Evang.  Luc. 

X.  13,  65 

CASSIODORIUS 

Variae 

vii.  13,  38 

iii.  10,  38 

CL  AUDI  ANUS 

De  VI.  Consulatu  Honorii 
42,  65 

CODEX  BARBERINIANUS 
xxx.  25,  152 

CODEX  THEODOSIANUS 
x.  Tit.  17,  92 

DION  CASSIUS 
xliii.  49,  11 

FRONTINUS 
i.  13,  80 


HORACE 

Satires 


I.  viii.  8  fol., 


PAGE 
15 


ST.  JEROME 

Letters 

xlviii.,  59 

xcvi.,  59 

LIBER  PONTIFICALIS 

Gregorius,  iv.  38,  126 

Vol.  II.,  145,  xxii.,  131 

Vol.  II.,  145,xxiii.,  139 
Vol.  II.,  225, 235,  240, 248, 270, 275,    155 

Vol.  II.,  258,  156 


xxiv.  46, 
xx vi.  27, 


LIVY 


MON.  GERM.  SCR.  LANG. 
Vol.  I.,  p.  53, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  483, 
Vol.  VI.,  p.  358, 


16 
16 


155 
156 
157 


INDEX  OF  INSCRIPTIONS 


279 


PRUDENTIUS 
Contra  Sym. 
i.  501-505, 

PLINY  THE  ELDER 
Historia  Naturalis 
vii.  36, 121, 

PROCOPIUS 

de  Bello  Gothico 
i.  19, 
ii.  3, 
iv.  22, 


Octav.  29, 


SUETONIUS 

TACITUS 

Annales 


xv.  43, 

VENANTIUS  FORTUNATUS 
Carmina 


iii.  23, 
v.  45, 


ZOSIMUS 


B.    INSCRIPTIONS 


Benevento,  inscription  found  at, 
Brick  stamp  of  Theoderic, 
Capua,  inscription  found  at, 

Corjms  Inscriptionum  Latinarum 
i.    285, 
p.   415, 
vi.  472, 

562, 

773, 


PAGE 

vi.  916, 

153 

PAI-.K 

1014, 

153,  231 

35 

1016, 

153 

1173, 

33 

1178, 

152 

1187, 

50 

10 

1188-90, 

53 

1191, 

152 

1472, 

153 

1(551, 

36 

79,145 

1658, 

36 

83 

1663, 

36 

87 

1664, 

37 

1703, 

61 

11 

1708, 

153 

1711, 

153 

1728  a, 

151 

1730, 

50 

19 

14,  647, 

20 

8 

Ephemeris  Epigraphica 

109 

iii.  p.  287, 

21 

57 

DE  Rossi  :  Inscr.  Chr.  Urbis  Romae 

Vol.  II.,  p.  212, 

156 

p.  215, 

155,  15(5 

t,       65 

p.  347, 

136 

78 

65 

FABRETTI  :  Inscriptions 

Domesticae 

arum 

p.  721,  no.  431, 

20 

112 

194 

MARINI  :  Inscriptions  alb. 

153 

X., 

194 

153 

Notizie  degli  Scavi:  1880, 

p.  53,        51 

153 

HANDBOOKS 

OF 

Archaeology  and  Antiquities, 

EDITED   BY 

Professor  PERCY  GARDNER,  of  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  Professor 
FRANCIS   W.   KELSEY,  of  the  University  of  Michigan. 


ALREADY   PUBLISHED. 

A  HANDBOOK  OF  GREEK  SCULPTURE.  By  ERNEST  A.  GARDNER, 
M.A.,  formerly  Director  of  the  British  School  at  Athens;  Yates  Professor 
of  Archaeology  in  University  College,  London.  In  Two  Parts,  extra 
crown  8vo,  31.25  each.  Complete  in  one  volume,  $2.50. 

A  HANDBOOK  OF  GREEK  CONSTITUTIONAL  HISTORY.  By 
A.  H.  J.  GREENIDGE,  M.A.,  Lecturer  in  Ancient  History  at  Brasenose 
College,  Oxford.  With  Map.  Extra  crown  8vo,  51.25. 

GREEK  AND  ROMAN  COINS.  By  G.  F.  HILL,  of  the  Coins  Depart- 
ment in  the  British  Museum.  Extra  crown  8vo,  $2.25. 

THE  ROMAN  FESTIVALS  OF  THE  PERIOD  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 
An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Roman  Religion.  By  W.  WARDE 
FOWLER,  M.A.,  of  Lincoln  College,  Oxford.  Extra  crown  8vo,  $1.25. 

THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME.  A  Sketch  of  the  History 
of  the  Monuments.  By  RUDOLFO  LANCIANI,  LL.D.,  of  the  University  of 
Rome.  Extra  crown  8vo. 


IN    PREPARATION. 

The  Greek  Religion.     By  Louis  DYER,  Baliol  College,  Oxford. 

Homeric  Antiquities.     By  THOMAS  D.  SEYMOUR,  \  ale  University. 

Roman  Public  Life.     By  A.  H.  J.  GREEMDGE,  Brasenose  College,  Oxford. 

Greek  Private  Life.     By  JOHN  WILLIAMS  WHITE,  Harvard  University. 

Greek  Commerce.     By  PERCY  GARDNER,  University  of  Oxford. 

Ancient  Slavery.     By  FRANK  B.  JEVONS,  University  of  Durham. 

The  Acropolis  of  Athens.     By  MARTIN  L.  D'OooE,  University  of  Michigan. 

Greek  Architecture.     By  ALLAN  MARQUAND,  Princeton  University. 

Roman  Architecture.     By  FRANCIS  W.  KELSEY,  University  of  Michigan. 

Christian  Rome.     By  A.  L.  FROTHINGHAM,  JR.,  Princeton  University. 

Christian  Archaeology.  By  WALTER  LOVVRIE,  Fellow  of  the  American 
School  in  Rome. 

Roman  Sculpture.     By  SALOMON  REINACH,  Musee  Saint-Germain. 

Ancient  Painting.     By  CECIL  SMITH,  British  Museum. 

Greek  Vases.     By  CECIL  SMITH,  British  Museum. 

Scientific  Knowledge  of  the  Ancients.   By  PAUL  SHOREY,  Univ.  of  Chicago. 

Latin  Inscriptions  in  Relation  to  Literature  and  Life.  By  MINTON  WAR- 
REN, Harvard  University. 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY, 

66  FIFTH   AVENUE,  NEW  YORK. 


Lancaster  Town  Library 

The  library  is  open  every  afternoon,  except  Monday, 
from  2  until  5,  and  on  Monday,  Wednesday  and  Satur- 
day evenings  from  7  to  9. 

All  books,  except  new  fiction,  may  be  kept  three 
•weeks,  and  a  fine  of  three  cents  a  day  will  be  charged 
for  over  detention.  New  fiction  may  be  kept  one  week, 
and  the  flue  will  be  two  cents  a  day  for  over  detention. 

Borrowers  may  take  two  books  at  one  time,  pro- 
vided that  only  one  book  of  fiction  is  taken. 

Books  to  be  renewed  must  be  returned  to  the  library. 

The  owner  of  a  card  will  be  responsible  for  all 
books,  fines  and  penalties  recorded  against  it. 

A  person  wishing  to  take  books  on  another  person's 
card  may  be  required  to  produce  written  permission  to 
that  effect. 

If  a  card  is  lost,  five  cents  must  be  paid  for  a  new 
one. 

The  librarian  may  refuse  to  change  a  book  the  same 
day  on  which  it  is  taken  out,  and  must  withhold  the  use 
of  the  library  from  all  whose  fines  are  unpaid. 

Persons  wilfully  violating  the  rules  of  the  library 
may  be  deprived  of  its  privileges  at  the  discretion  of 
the  Trustees. 

Whoever  wilfully,  and  maliciously,  or  without 
cause,  writes  upon,  injures,  tears  or  destroys  any 
book,  plate,  picture,  engraving  or  statue,  belonging 
to  any  Public  Library,  is  punishable  by  State  Law. 


3  3125  00073  4109 


